Scrapbooking as a Tool for Mental Health

In my early twenties, I started keeping a daily journal. I enjoyed doodling, gluing in receipts, and writing down my thoughts. I started journaling with the intention of capturing memories, since my mental illness greatly affects my long-term memory.

Since being diagnosed with C-PTSD, I’ve been given a lot of tool from from my therapist to help heal and face my day-to-day life, which can so often be daunting and anxiety-inducing.

Journaling was one of those many tools.

Journaling, though therapeutic, didn’t help to improve my ability to keep memories in my head, but it did become an important daily habit that positively affected my overall mental health, anyway.

Now that I’m in my thirties, my habit of journaling has persisted and has become an integral part of what makes me feel more like me.

Being able to look back at the pages and see all the life I’ve been fortunate enough to live has given me a deeper appreciation for the little joys I so often take for granted as they happen.

Journaling is an act of slowing down, of being present. I suppose it’s like meditation, which is something I gravely struggle with. I’m not sure if my journal is what my therapist had in mind when she recommended the hobby, but regardless, I’ve found it an effective tool.

One day, years into my journaling practice, a friend and I were talking about our respective habits with the hobby. She showed me her immaculate bullet journal, filled with clean lines and neat lettering. I was blown away by how tidy and handy it looked. I was a little embarrassed when she chuckled at my messy crayon drawings and crinkled papers.

She asked me if my journal was even useful, and I told her I journaled for fun, not function. She told me she would feel burdened by having to think of themed spreads and journaling for long periods of time.

I wanted to replicate her mature style, but ultimately it never felt natural. I would make a list, then never get around to crossing anything off after completing the goals. I would write in my schedule, only to forget the notebook on my desk before walking out the door. Bullet journaling, though aesthetic and cool, never gave me any satisfaction.

It wasn’t until after this conversation and my deep dive into the online world of bullet journaling that I realized I wasn’t actually journaling at all. Rather, I was scrapbooking.

My journal, or rather, my scrapbook, is a tool for reminiscing.

I keep letters and postcards from friends, as well as small doodles I’ve made over the year. Sometimes I write down my feelings of hardship or joy. Othertimes I’m simply putting down a bunch of glue and pasting in everything I’ve been collecting that week.

I do not put much emphasis on writing down the details of my trips or special memories, as the little momentos often speak volumes on their own.

When I go on trips, I love to create a dedicated spread of all the special things I did and saw. I get so much pleasure in organizing the page, and feel a genuine sense of accomplishment whenever I look back and admire my work.

This, too, appreciating my hard work, is an act of slowing down.

There are days when I feel compelled to write about my circumstances. But in the past, I often found putting pen to paper a challenge because I was so worried about how my words would look on the page.

I used to stress out about misspelling words or writing something that didn’t seem profound enough. When I read the journals of famous writers, I am in awe of their revelations and the way they utilize language, even in something as private as a journal.

I thought I needed to live up to those writers’ high standards. And that made writing in my journal a great burden. I thought, ‘Can I really call myself a writer, when the only thing I have to say about an event is: ‘I had fun’?

When I finally decided to let go and write whatever came to mind, my journal once again became a safe and freeing place to explore my creativity.

Overtime, I got back that slow, hearty feeling I once had when I completed a spread.

There is a peculiar intimacy about keeping a journal.

I always see videos and memes about ‘fixing brain rot’ and taking back control over our attention spans online. I think giving ourselves time offline, to be solely with ourselves and our thoughts, is empowering. Also, it’s unfortunately rare, as many of us use online platforms to form connections and earn income.

Some days, when I’m sitting at my desk, I love to pull out my journal and think back on the person I was when I wrote the entries. We change so fast over the years, but because we live in our bodies, we don’t often feel great changes being made.

My journal seems like it knows me better than I do. This has given me a lot of comfort on days when my mental health is in shambles, and I hardly feel like a person, let alone like me.

I never feel stuck on what to write, even when nothing particularly special has happened, because there are plenty of things to journal about or keep tabs of in a physical journal.

Sometimes I think through new stories or try out new poetry rhyme schemes. But most of the time, I am messily writing down cute little moments of my life, and flipping through the pages already finished.

Just sitting with my journal, even when I’m not writing in it, feels like I’m spending a moment alone with another version of myself.

I wonder if my therapist has felt this connection to her own diary?

There are plenty of benefits of journaling, regardless of how you choose to do it. Whether it’s purely words, a hint of art, or a mess of receipts, journaling can help you let go and explore your inner world.

It will challenge you to pull out secret corners of yourself and throw it onto the paper. You’ll be forced to sit with a physical representation of your inner being.

I am so excited to continue my journaling journey in 2026, regardless of what shape it takes on in the new year.

If you have a journaling habit, I’m really curious to know how it’s going and what has changed in it over the years.

Ironically, I do find my journal, or scrapbook, getting neater as I’m getting older. My friends might be so proud! It certainly is no bullet journal, but I can now express myself in a more succinct way that has been helping me track my goals and writing progress.

As always, thank you for reading and being here with me.