EvolGarlic's Special Report: What am I put in my "Bullet Journal"?

Hi EvolGarlic here and welcome to your newsletter from your truly EvolGarlic Article Pelican Newsletter on Substack :

Hey! Do you remember the article "EvolGarlic's Barely Read," the article series about the books I have read lately? "Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll" was the first book review I ever did, I fell in love with journaling in my notebook, sitting on the desk, writing what happened during the day, what I ate, and what interesting things I found and most important of all: what's my feeling, and the book had provide me with the basic on how to adapt to my style and my use.

Now, this journal is not my real first one, but a pilot one, which means that this journal is an experiment, in which I try out the features that I learn from the book, finding out which one will suit me and which one will not go through to the next Journal once this notebook is full.

The journal started on the first day of August, the day that I started journalling my thoughts, and it's been three months since I started doing this, it was some kind of history on my revolution beginning from the day I decided to it do until this day (when I started typing this draft ) here's what I put in it and the obstacles of journaling in my notebook :

[What's happen during the day]

Ranging from waking up too early and feeling grumpy about the fried chicken I bought from the market; when the thing that happened during that day seemed important, I put it in my journal, including the time I deposited my piggy bank money, the time that I  brought a fried chicken to try and how it went down south, the time that walking to exercise, I even log the time my head went blank, can't thinking of anything or any idea, it is like I am fuecoco, the fire croc Pokémon, sitting on the floor, looking at the sky.

The not only thing that happened during the day, but I also included the days that I didn't have time the sit-down and journal, that specific time was 7 days of flooding in my town (13 September to 20 September) which was the days that I couldn't just sit down and write things, since the flood started rising at the evening time and slowly getting higher everyday (for 4 days from 13-17 September, which although in the September of 17 considered to be that the house are accessible, I have to take a rest after cleaning the house and rearranging things)

[Interesting books I found on the internet]

Expanding my horizons of knowledge is my target since I decided to get real with "Self-improvement" and reading books is the best way to get it, since there are a lot of books that I am interested in, I jot down the name of the book and keep it there, ranging from Ikikai to the book about parenting, if it interests me, I will add that to the list.

[Gather idea]

Not only the books, but also my journal are the places where my idea shines, such as starting this Substack to deliver a weekly newsletter, that idea was logged in the journal, and not just this idea, but other ideas that look fun and sound fun are also log in the journal too, like how I got the idea of upload it weekly on Friday, what are the color of each article series and the timetable of cooking article.

[Log my feeling about the lingering past]

For those who didn't know, I have a lingering past that still lingers with me to this day, the story about it is something that goes like this :

Imagine this, I, have loved something since I was a young kid, and that passion led me to a group that also shared the same passion for the same thing as mine, I quit and rejoined that group, but the time I was in there, all I need is to shared the same passion that I have in the group that supposed to support the harmony in the shared passion.

While I was there, I poured my passion and devotion into this community, and I thought they were going to make that devotion that I had poured into something that gave me more happiness.

But that was unfortunately not the case because all of my devotion that I have poured in was either emptied or evaporated like the ice cube on the highway during April in Thailand: turned into a puddle and evaporated out.

Imagine this in the way that I can describe, just thinking that I am baking a cookie with a lot of chocolate chip on it, some even have M&Ms on it, after I bake it and let it cool, I serve them my freshly made cookies, but instead of compliments and eat it, they treated this baked snacks (my contribution) as nothing, pretend that they have a diet but what they are saying that I should not be baking anything for them (meaning that my contribution is nothing) While others who some may not even bring anything are getting praised and recognitions, it is just like they just bring a potato chips with mostly air in the bag, but do get the good reaction, while I am here, hissing as background music in the elevator, or should I say, being the ghost in that group.

It took me nearly years to recognize that I was left in the dust every time I spoke something in the group, so one day, I decided that I had enough of this thing and decided to stop baking things for them or to say most honestly: Quit the group and the entire community.

Now, most people would move on and do something else; the problem is, the flashbacks of their treatment are still lingering, despite that I had to move on and leave the toxic environment.

So when the lingering past is sending that funky smell of the flashback, I will process that smell and introspection that thing, and then put it in the journal, someday I feel "better about it" someday I feel "less good about it" due to some unsolved thing that the lingering past have, and someday I even wrote down the bottled feeling that has been bottled since I was in that environment, venting it all down into the paper.

I feel relief when I vent it all into the paper, and every time I have that feeling again and if it is very intense for me to just write "Feeling better" Or "Feeling worse" I will go all out and make sure that the frustrating feeling is venting it into the paper, someday I will log a short message, but if someday the lingering past has more sting that can't express it in just one short line of "feeling good" I will write the entire venting message.

[Interesting things I found]

Since I was sitting down and writing in the notebook since August 1st, there is a handful of interesting things that I found and wanted to keep in the journal, like which type of bicycle to buy and use for exercise that fit my weight, SWOT Analysis (which I didn't fill it up yet) How "S" and "Z" are spoken, The benefits of cabbage and Bayley grass, why typewriter are great for writer, and many more idea and facts that I interest in, it's all in there.

[What I reviewed]

Despite working in the field of reviewing the product for over 3 years (starting from 2020 to 2022, and taking a break to experiment with nft for nearly a year between April 2022 to November 2023, after the project was not successful and folded, I return to reviewing product) and used to have the skill to remember everything I eat or something I use, that skill is starting to fade away because I keep forgetting, and this journal is coming in handy,  as I wrote down the taste of the snack I currently eat and wanted to review, what kind of food I ate in the boat racing festival day, even which Pokémon I get after eating the last pokemon oreo in the shop, the first impression of the mechanical pencil that I brought to write this journal, and many more, I'll make sure to log in the journal so I can pull the information out and use it to tying the article, very useful indeed!

[Obstacle: The skipped days]

This is the common problem with myself and doing this journal: Skipped days.

Skipped days mean the days I forgot to sit down and Journaling, which started happen after the flood, as each day I skipped was due to tiredness after the historic event and laziness, so in the day that I Journal after skipping yesterday's journal, I will put a logo that indicates the day I skip, more day I skip, more logo I have to put in the journal to indicate how many days I skipped this journaling practice.

That's what I put in my journal so far, but this is just the pilot journal, which means it is experimental, some features may stay in the next Journal, and some may not, but what I love about it is that the journal are the partner that adaptive to your need, so if you wanted to start your very own journal, research it on the internet or check out "The Bullet Journal Method" book by Ryder Carroll which will provide you with the basic and foundation of "Bullet Journal" and if you stuck or have some problems, you can always go back to the book.

Do you also have a bullet Journal? If so, share your experiences and how it is going, maybe we can find the same people who are using Journal too, and if you are the pros who mastered the Bullet Journal, feel free to share some tips for rookies like me and many people, until then, see you in the next newsletter!

That's a wrap for today's edition of EvolGarlic's Article Pelican Newsletter on Substack! For those who thirst for more of EvolGarlic's enlightening content, consider becoming a subscriber to the Pelican. Free subscribers will receive tantalizing articles straight to their inbox, while paid subscribers gain access to the full buffet of articles. Should you wish to support EvolGarlic's literary escapades, feel free to visit EvolGarlic's Ko-fi page. Your donations contribute to the acquisition of a shiny new ThinkPad, a camera, and other essential gear that empowers EvolGarlic to craft even more captivating content. A heartfelt thank you for your readership, and anticipate the excitement of the next article!

https://ko-fi.com/evolgarlicentertainment