Nature Journal Notes

Ah yes, it is the end of the year (a little unbelievably), which means it is time for New Year’s Resolutions and lots of self-evaluation in the coming days. This attitude of self-reflection and future aspirations is something that can trickle down even into our nature journals. Personally, I do not put much thought into New Year’s Resolutions, but I do like to use the end of the year as a time to reflect and look back at some of my accomplishments as well as think about suggestions for myself in the coming year. Many times, nature journals serve as the perfect outlet for in-the-moment observations and recordings, but then they tend to stay in that moment. I find that I don’t often look back at my previous nature journal entries unless I make a point to do so, or if I am trying to get information about a specific date and time.
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With the end of December comes an opportunity to re-live the past year through the pages of our journals! While leafing (pun intended) through your journal, keep your eyes open for things that you enjoyed or maybe entries that weren’t as gripping to you. Do you remember writing all of the entries, or are some of them much more memorable than others?

You can keep a list of the things you notice about your recordings that you liked and some things that you would like to improve on. I will be the first to admit that it can be tricky to go through old work and critique/appreciate what you've created, but as naturalists, it can be a really helpful tool to improving work for the future! You can also take note of styles that you used throughout the year that you really enjoyed, or perhaps there was something you had wanted to do but didn't get to. For me, I would like to try to incorporate more watercolors into my journal and practice with that new medium. It is something I am always thinking about while journaling, but have never taken the time to explore! 

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If you'd like, you can add your list of thoughts/comments about previous journal entries into your current journal so that you can reference it moving forward as a helpful reminder, but whether or not you want to record your findings in your journal is completely up to you! If you're new to journaling, or aren't sure that nature journaling is for you, the beginning of 2021 could be the time to explore this interest! We have a bunch of Nature Journal Notes blog posts all about different things to try in your nature journal as well as tips on some important pieces of information to keep in mind while recording data and observations!

Swing by next week for more Nature Journal Notes and enjoy a selection of our Nature Journal Note examples from the past year below!
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