I had kept a paper journal for years, but I didn’t draw in it
I would decorate it with
photos and stickers
Other journaling friends would insist to me:
Draw in your journal!
You’ll remember the moment better!
But I didn’t believe them.
My friends telling me to “just draw” had journals that looked like this:
@jackalopejournals
@mayhemdoodles
@littlelu_lu
cyoo.substack.com
I thought,
“OK if I could draw like this every day, then sure”
But I draw like this, so why bother?
I journal because I want to remember things!
Wouldn’t a journal full of bad drawings be strictly less helpful than even a journal full of bad photos? Wouldn’t it store
strictly less information?
But then this year I tried it and
These drawings are not photo-realistic.
There are mistakes everywhere.
Davis noticed I draw my memories in 3rd person, so I’m not even drawing anything I’ve seen before.
I get it now 🥲
But these drawings flood me with memories
in a more intimate and immersive way than viewing photos alone.
Earlier this summer, a friend sent out an email with various life updates. He included a note about forgotten treasures:
“2025: I rediscovered forgotten treasures in old boxes, prompting a wave of nostalgia.
Makes you wonder what % of your life memories you could retrieve given the right key.”
— email from Gregor
The drawing is not a recording of my memory
The drawing is the key into my memory
By drawing with paper and pencil,
I forge new keys into my memories
in a way I do not when I take a photo