This month is my mother’s birthday month, so I wanted to go with a green theme. Because I have some green washi tape with Totoros, I decided to make August’s theme Studio Ghibli, specifically Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli work. My Neighbor Totoro is also her favorite Ghibli movie, so it worked out well.
As usual, I tried some new things. We’ll see how it works this month.
I have these little block letter stamps that I thought would be cute, so I used them a lot, including with the cover page’s quote which took forever. The quote is from Miyazaki accompanied by stickers of him.
I decided to utilize my calendar since it just sat looking pretty the past several months, so I made it a habit tracker, in a way. It’s habits/health issues I want to keep track of on my journey to better myself. I did keep the separation of bills, entertainment, creative, and bettering sections I used last month, since it worked well. And I separated them with the most iconic line from Howl’s Moving Castle.
For my weekly, I put in sections for individual days, which is my biggest help, and sections for various weekly things including meal planning, finances, weekly goals, and to-dos. These can be filled as needed, so there’s no pressure to me to fill them up. It’s for my benefit and not meant to be an obligation. Each week is assigned a different Miyazaki Ghibli movie: Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro (for my mom’s birthday week), and Spirited Away. There’s an accompanied sticker and quote.
With my decor page, I stuck strictly to Ghibli rather than color. Next to the decor page, I put a check list of Miyazaki Ghibli movies. I’ve yet to see two, which I will remedy this month.
Overall, I’m loving this theme and organization.
Now for books.
In July, I read FIVE books. Five! I guess nothing was happening this past month for me to do anything but read. The books were Never Grow Up, The White Sniper, The Scarlet Letter, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Unsolved Murders. Out of these five, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was the best; I’ve really loved Gaiman’s writing style and characters. No book was really bad; they were all good, so I recommend them all.
This month, I’m going to try to read three books. School starts up, so my time won’t be as expendable. The books I’m planning on reading are You Do You, How to Catch a Killer, and Tale As Old As Time. Let me know if you have read/are going to read these books and let me know what you think.
We’re here for bettering ourselves, through journaling and reading, so remember to work on bettering yourself whatever that may mean to you.
Hugs
Alexandra
Alexandra TG 