Welcome to my JOYrnal
Recently, I have had many ideas and thoughts that I want to share somewhere, mostly to do with the things that bring me joy in life. I have wondered what method of journal I should use to share my thoughts. While making my artistic website, I decided a blog would be a great starting point. I would prefer a digital journal (like a TikTok account) because writing is a weakness of mine, but leaning into my weaknesses was on my 2026 mood board, so here we go.
This website has brought me immense joy while building it. As artists, we don’t always have the time or the mental capacity to look back on the journey we have taken to get where we are today. While I know I am no where near the end of my journey (hopefully), a look down memory lane was necessary. I find myself at a crossroads going into Senior year of college. I am six months away from living my dream life in New York City, the future could not be more terrifying and exciting all at once. And yet, the past 3 years have been the most unpredictable years of my life; moving over 1,500 miles from home and starting clean, while trying to figure out where I belong in the world. Maybe an account of all the things that bring me joy could also act as a beautiful reminder that, slowing down to stop and smell the roses is not lollygagging?
When I was a little girl I loved to write fictional stories. I remember I started to write a book at the age of 10 that followed two kids on a plane crash landing into a fairytale land. I had so many plans and already knew that I wanted to end the book with an “it was all a dream” moment. But as I got older, the creativity of writing and storytelling was exercised out of me. Instead of writing for fun, I was required to write research papers about the American Revolution or the science behind blush (okay I kinda liked that one). My attention deficit brain was automatically turned off to the idea of writting. Period. The Rules and outcome oriented nature trained my brain to associate writing with labor and a todo list (I have never done well with those). I’ll never forget the painfully long nights I spent staring at a blank screen trying to muster up some words to get down before the clock hit 11:59pm. Or the hours my english teacher mother would spend nagging me to work because I kept putting the task off. Writing was painful. But now I have the chance to reclaim that pain for joy, my favorite and most used emotion.
My goal in writing this blog is to put at least 1% more joy into the world every week. Whether it be a pretty flower I captured on my walk, a new workout set I bought, or a strangers testimony. I want to have an account of all the little things that add up. Joy is cumulative and its not until you let negativity creep into your life that you start to notice. I have set the goal to post weekly but, because I have never written in this volume before or done anything like this before, we will see how realistic that is. So, until next week!
Joyfully,
Cate ;)
