July is rapidly coming to an end. And so, it is time to think about closing out the month and beginning a new one. Part of my ritual is to create a new monthly spread in my Bullet Journal. This gives me a chance to review the previous month and preview the upcoming month.
The last few months I noticed that my monthly ritual feels compressed. I have invoices to get out, time cards to complete (for one client), a monthly budget to sketch, and the monthly migration in my principal tracking tool — my Bullet Journal.
The compression makes the process feel rushed. What should be a positive exercise becomes a chore. The month change should be something to celebrate — there is work completed and work to anticipate. In this instance, I mean work as the progress of living, which includes my vocation but also my avocations and simply a celebration of life. Life is good!
So, this afternoon I was reflecting on the upcoming conversion and decided that I would go ahead and layout my August monthly spread and will prepare my paper budget as well. Both will be sketches to fill in as I migrate from July to August. But, August will fill in as I move into the first week of the new month. My prayer is that preparing the sketch a few days early will reduce the busy-ness to the extent that it will produce positive energy and make me feel better rather than pressured.
The Noodler’s Heart of Darkness is in the frame simply because it is the backbone of my journaling. It is not present on the spread. I used the deAtramentis Document Inks in Dark Blue, Dark Green, and Red. I do not think they produce a dark red or I would try that. I like the contrast the red gives the for day. The dark green is for my recycle days (I need a reminder).
I used a dip pen again this month. I overloaded the stub nib slightly, so the headings are a little blotchy. It is a kind art (my poor attempt) so I do not care (really). The ink flow is good with the fine nib. The stub requires frequent re-inking; the fine nib less so (of course).
This process gives me a certain pleasure… a satisfaction of progress and keeping notes of things that are important to me. It relieves the stress of remembering (hat tip to David Allen for brain dumps) tasks and appointments and provides a solid record of what I did with my time.
I made the imager with my iPhone 13 Pro. The only post-processing was to crop every so slightly and resize the image. Yes, I keep an iPhone in my inventory for now. I have my old phone number, also for now, as a backup because so many people have that number. I do not want to miss an important contact.
As I reflect, I remember to be grateful. Every day is a gift. Life is good.