Thread: Tell me what your dream journal look like

Mine is leather and is brown and has a Bible verse on the front, it says "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I'm trying to write in it more often. My dreams have been dull and nightmarish as of late.

When I used to have a dream journal it was like:
-it's a normal copybook.
-I used to write the day and find a title to the dream.
-I used a special pen.
But now I don't really write my dreams, it takes too much time, so I record it.

This forum is my Dream Journal.

I use an app on my phone, and I'll occasionally do voice recordings too.

Mine is currently a fairly simple computer document—headings for date, subheadings for each dream. When I used written dairies/journals, dreams would just be a section in an ordinary notebook or notebook-paper binder. Nothing too fancy needed, just something that is usable without much hassle.

I removed the metal spiral from three spiral notebooks and tied them together into one big one (yeah I know I could have just bought one large notebook. Whatever). My previous one is the same thing, but with a fake leather cover I put on it. Maybe eventually I'll put a nice cover on my current one.

I use the dream journal system here for the main part - you can see examples of how people format them there. When the laptop I use at night to record dreams into a Word document isn't working (for some reason 1 out of 5 times it won't come out of stand by...) I get my composition notebook out. I buy ones I personally think are nice looking from Wal Mart or wherever.

mINE.jpg

My traditional paper ones. The one with the stickers on the cover is my 2001-2006 one. The blue one opened is 2006-2012. I just started a new one, but haven't written too much in it. It is mostly filled with stapled-in dreams I originally wrote over the laptop. Its the green one hidden there. Both the blue and the brown have fancy stickers on them, both are also ledger style for maximum space for writing. I wish they still sold the blue ledger at Wal-Mart. Its hard to find a solidly constructed ledger style notebook. They're incredibly sturdy, and are designed to last a long time!

My newest one, the green one, is a traditional journal. It has a few gemstone craft stickers on it. I dont like the pages...too small, and perforated for easy tear! That doesnt bode well for me! I forsee alot of scotch tape in my future. My journals go everywhere.

Voice recordings and a word document for me... simple.

My first DJ was a store-bought "Dream Diary" that my mother bought me in the 1970's (even though I never told her about my interest in dreams -- curious people, mothers). My current DJ is a simple lined book bound with cork covers. In between is a pile that ranges from hip-sized spiral notebooks to fancy blank books; it doesn't matter at all into what you are writing down your dreams, just that you are writing them down.

Also, and not to start an argument with the electronic device users above, I really think it is important to actually write your dreams down, pen to paper. There is something about the process of writing that facilitates your dreams' entry into long-term memory that simply does not happen when recording them or typing them into a machine. Plus, paper tends to last a whole lot longer than electronic files or the machines that read them, which is something you might appreciate in the coming decades when you want to look back at what you were dreaming about early in your journey.

Originally Posted by Sageous

Plus, paper tends to last a whole lot longer than electronic files or the machines that read them, which is something you might appreciate in the coming decades when you want to look back at what you were dreaming about early in your journey.

That's a very good point that is easy to overlook. It is possible to preserve computer data (which has many advantages) for a long time, but it is unfortunately an active process which requires a fair amount of expertise and discipline, maintenance of backup copies, avoidance of proprietary software and formats (plain ASCII/Unicode text may be among the only reasonably safe options), readiness to convert/transfer just before failure/obsolescence of machine/software/format/digital media/website… Though it is technically easier to copy and spread around than paper, which too is rather fragile.

But I guess I'm going way outside the scope of this thread.

Originally Posted by Travis E.

Though it is technically easier to copy and spread around than paper, which too is rather fragile.

I'm not even sure about that. Yes, the copying part is true (but why would copies be needed, if you're taking care of your DJ's?), but I've got books on my shelves that are up to 2 centuries old that still work just fine, and books that are older than me that look brand new. So long as you don't take gas and a match to them, fragility is really not an issue; indeed, I would say that books are far less fragile than electronic devices/computers, which can be destroyed in lots of ways, including time.

Okay, now we're way off topic...

This thread needs more pictures

Originally Posted by Sageous

Yes, the copying part is true (but why would copies be needed, if you're taking care of your DJ's?)

I was thinking in terms of disasters and other things out of one's control; being able to quickly and cheaply make copies stored in diverse geographical locations increases the chances of survival (in theory, at least). But ignoring that, I do agree that a digital device by itself tends to be a lot more fragile in many ways (as well as have a pretty abysmal lifespan).

Just a normal book that i bought from a small bookshop. N make sure it always beside me when i sleep

Before I came to the fourm there was a time for a couple months where I had a folder on my desktop and every time I had a dream I would put it into a MS word document and title it with the date.

It is dusty.

Bonjour again everyone! Thanks for sharing the DJ. Zoth was right, this topic needs more pics of your DJ. One question, will the DJ works if you just draw a pic of your imagination without words at all?

Id see a picture more of a refresher what the scene looked like, so I'd keep text and if you want add art as well.

I use my phone which just has a diary app on it. I know about the pen to paper stuff, but honestly, I wouldn't write my dreams as much if I had to use a pen and a book. I prefer being able to edit things in afterwards too, like some details that I've remembered after I wrote the dream. Although I've thought about getting an actual, physical, dream journal, I really don't think that it would as well work for me. I also love the app that I use - you can set moods which I use to sort out my lucids from non lucids. When my phone stops working, I'll probably get a real journal since I really hate typing on touch screens (my phone has a keyboard) and the next phone I'm going to get is probably going to have a touch screen keyboard since its hard to find good phones with actual keyboards. I know I got a little off topic, but yeah, my journal is a phone, but I might use a physical journal in the future.

My actual physical, dream journal(s) are big green journal books.

I've tried basically everything when it comes to dream journals. I started off with a phone app (in my old phone, which had a keyboard). When the phone stopped working and I got another one, I continued with the app for a while, but I found the brightness of the screen, even when turned to the lowest, was quite high and it felt uncomfortable. I tried my tablet for a while because I could dim the screen more, but it was too big to write comfortably. Then I got sick of screens and got a paper binder, but sharing a room with my sister it was quite difficult to find the right way to write. I am back to the phone app now with my too-bright phone.

Honestly, I'd love to be able to keep a hand-written journal, specially because it's easier to read previous entries and study dream signs and stuff...

I just use a black hard cover notebook.
I'll write down the date before I go to sleep and read the dreams from the day before. Then during the night I write some keynotes down and in the morning I'll right it all down in detail. Sometimes accompanied by a little sketch if it's relevant.

I have a pocket sized spiral notebook for a physical DJ, and I use the forum's one for more detailed write ups of lucid/cool dreams etc. I want to get a nice green leather journal hehe but anything looking a bit nice is fine, I feel it would give me more motivation for writing in it.