Hello there! It’s just so nice to see you again after some time. How’s everything going? I hope you’re doing well. Today, I bring a topic which has always interested me and in order to write about it, I had done some research. And by research I mean going on facebook and asking around what they do in their journals and why. If I have to be honest, some responses were the ones I was expecting, some other opened my eyes and surprised me a lot. Ok, are you ready? This is the question I asked: 

I'm writing an article for my blog and I'm doing some research:

which is your favorite part of making your bujo look pretty? If you're the minimalist kind of person: what's your favorite part of making it look simple? 

Now, in order to expose the different points of view I found, I’ll create a list for each “team” and some quotations from people on facebook who helped me out with this. Let’s start with… 

• Creative healing, it helps release negative energy and feel happy.

• It helps decompress and relax.

• Helps productivity since liking something you did makes you want to go back to that page and do everything you said you were going to do.

• Sense of completion: it feels as if you’ve achieved your goal when the page looks the way you wanted it to.

• Sheer happiness: looking at something beautiful lights up our days and make us want to be as positive as we feel at that particular moment.

• It helps you realize not everything you do needs to be perfect. It helps to get over “yourself” the one self that thinks they must do everything perfectly or they may be perceived by society as dirt because they made ONE mistake.

Rachel Lowe said: My favorite part of making it look pretty is the creative healing... creating art helps me release negative energy and feel happy. 

Niamh Louise Wallis said: Decorating my daily page, particularly on days that I had a really long to do list, at the end of the day really helps me decompress and relax before bed. 

Lilach Shirizly said: When I like to look at a page because it's pretty to me, I look at it more often and then I actually do the things I wrote down that I have to do. So basically it keeps me productive. 

Ashley Anne Davis said: I like the creative outlet it gives me by making it pretty. And by pretty I mean colors because I can't draw very well. It also is helping me realize that not everything I do needs to be perfect. There are mistakes on pages and since it's in ink, I have to live with them, and that's helped me tremendously in just "getting over myself". Wouldn't be my page without some sort of mistake! And that's healing too.

• Simple layouts make it easy for us to look at everything we need quickly, this specially helps when you don’t have much time left before getting back to accomplishing objectives. (Specially focused on really busy people)

• Even when we’re in a hurry and just note-taking (easier said than done, in this blogger’s opinion; because… come on, taking notes is as messy as it can actually be), a simple layout makes the content look simple and consistent, easy to follow and to learn from. (Specially focused on students of people who have just started a new job and need to learn the internal procedure)

• Neat pages create a special satisfaction as to creative people their fully decorated pages. (Yes, minimalist also get satisfied by their neat and organized results)

• The possibility of focusing on the content instead of on the looks; this helps not to get distracted and to increase their productivity levels. (Remember my less is more entry?)

• Clutter, in general – and for some people –, increases anxiety levels and simplistic looks sooths them and make them feel secure and relaxed.

Lily Perez said: I started bullet journaling because I like lists. I use a monthly spread and my collections. I need simple, easy to find and easy to read. I would say having a simple journal is reflective what soothes my soul. Clutter in general makes me anxious. I like clean, direct, simple. 

Louise Leone said: I love that I can see what I need to do in a simple glance.) 

Kell Smurthwaite said: I like a clean, simple look, so I can see what I need at a glance - I don’t have time for hunting for things - I’m a very busy person. 

Now, there’s no right or wrong way of doing is. Being a minimalist or a creative person isn’t better than being on the other team. Bullet journaling is all about what works for you. However, getting to see if you agree with one team more than the other could help you out. Getting to know yourself a little better and to understand yourself can help you find your own voice. Getting your own voice can be reflected in your journal by expressing who you really are and I think there’s no bigger accomplishment than that (of course we still need to get things done and be proactive, but, come on, there’s more in life that just that). 

So I sort of hope (really really hope) this helps and it makes you feel as part of a group. Because we’re not alone and sometimes we can be part of both teams at the same time if you feel you’re a hybrid (many people told me they liked the minimalist way for the monthly organization but the creative approach for their sections).

I’d like to say goodbye now, but before that, I’d really like to thank all the people who helped me with their experience-sharing and caring. You could have just ignored my post but decided not to, and for that: I thank you from the bottom of my heart.