Private Pages and Public Spaces with Journal Social Baguio

A blank page is a scary and wonderful thing. I felt it as a sleep-deprived student cramming papers as the semester ended, and I felt it as a freelance writer and translator funding my travels and little luxuries with various side hustles. Throughout all those years (cue the Jurassic Park score) and today, one constant source of fresh blank pages has been my journal.

I started keeping a journal in 2010, and have always been loosey-goosey about the definition of “journal”. My notebooks have functioned as a place for jotting down thoughts, ideas, and feelings, but also a scrapbook, a catchall for photos and memorabilia, and a space to track my finances and progress on goals. Sometimes, it’s neat and organized. Other times, it’s a mess of scraps and disjointed words. Whatever it looks like, I’ve always needed to have a tangible place to put the things buzzing around my brain.

I’ve always thought of journaling as a personal, mostly private thing, but there’s also a lot of fun in making it a community activity. This is what Journal Social Baguio (JSB) has been doing for just over a year. With events like guided workshops as well as more relaxed meet-ups, they’ve brought together people of various ages and backgrounds with one thing in common: a love of journaling.

JSB celebrated its first anniversary on June 21st with a journaling meet-up and some fun activities to boot. Aside from their usual “journal buffet” of stickers, cut-outs, washi tapes, stamps, and other communal tools, participants enjoyed a paint-your-journal station and a station for picking out beads and elastic to make friendship bracelets. And for a bonus piece of memorabilia, you could even get your doodle portrait done.

As with some of JSB’s events, there were brief but purposeful talks and the opportunity to ask questions about the journaling process. The anniversary party took place at Henrico Hotel Cafe – one of many local cafes that hosts JSB gatherings. About a month after marking their first year, they held a meet-up event at Good Shot cafe, which doubles as an art gallery.

I came by, socialized, cut the logo out of a coffee bag, and had a good time. As it turns out, cutting up trash (or as I like to call them, “trashures”) and making it fit the design of your spread is one of the unexpectedly cathartic parts of keeping a journal.

If you want in, good news! It’s open to everyone, and it won’t set you back much to join. Both of the events above cost Php199 to register. For workshops, they typically charge around Php1,200. You’ll find the details on their social media, and be able to sign up on the same. And you might see me there! (Is that an incentive to go or to stay away? Only one way to find out! [Just kidding, come on over.])