I don’t know about you, but I got to the end of 2024, and honestly thought, ‘what did I actually do?! What happened this year? When was it that we went to so-and-so place?’
When I sat down to reflect on all the happenings of the year, I honestly struggled to remember half of it. The year flew by and felt short, but when I started to recall key moments, I was reminded of how much can be crammed into one year and it suddenly felt long.
This weird time-bending-mind-bending nature of the passing years leaves me feeling a bit frazzled. Also, my brain feels like its changing fundamentally, deciding what it wants to retain and let go of. I mean, I put my watch somewhere ‘safe’ 2 weeks ago, and only just found it. What’s going on there?!
So, I decided I wanted to implement some structured memory keeping into my 2025 creative practice.
My memory keeping plan:
DAILY : Write a short summary of the day, every evening in my Hobonichi Weeks Mega
WEEKLY : Use my Pith Yuzu Planner (week to view) as a space for capturing 1 drawing a week. The paper is not designed for sketching or painting, but I don’t mind. It works for my needs.
MONTHLY : Create a mini-zine summarising top level moments for reflection
The simple 3 step plan has worked really well for me for January. I feel more connected to my ‘moments’, and the plan feels low-pressure, do-able and simple.
Momentum & moments
The nice knock-on effect of this has been that I’ve wanted to capture random more moments with pages in my sketchbook. Having the daily summary has helped to embed the ‘small moments’ into my brain, and has inspired me to sketch more of my life.
This is not about creating beautiful art, it is about being more present in my life. Sometimes I miss the action filled life I had in London, and my heart yearns to be back there. But when I sketch these moments, I’m reminded of what I love about my life now, and that it’s full of beautiful, quiet moments.
It’s helping to get over that barrier to creating, because with each page I didn’t over-think it.
I want to acknowledge the artists who inspired me:
- is a powerhouse of visual journaling. Her weekly shares have been what gave me the push to think about what my version of visual journalling would look like.
I loved this youtube video by Caitlin Keegan. The simple idea of creating one drawing a week for a year really struck me as achievable and something I could do. I recommend checking it out - she also inspired me to consider a Hobonichi, although I don’t use it for my drawing.
I’m also really excited to follow
- seeing all the incredible work showcased there is making my brain fizz with ideas.
Do you have memory keeping practices?
Please share them in the comments!
📆 Live Dates for February - Click on the links to sign up
FREE Co-Swatch Sesh: Wednesday February 19th 13:00 GMT+1
Our regular monthly meetup to geek out on art materials together. Everyone welcome.
PAID Round Table Session - Q1: Creative Breakthroughs: Tuesday, February 25 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM GMT+1.
We’ll be discussing the pieces of work that felt like creative breakthroughs, opening up that exciting ‘spark’ for work that feels like you!
I also got to the end of 2024, with the realisation that I wanted to get some projects completed. Like, REALLY DONE. So I created Project 5 which is now officially LIVE!
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If you’re new here, I’m Raj Kaur, a Design Director for Brands, Artist and Illustrator and sketchbook obsessive. Join the community for Process, Projects and Play!
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