30|05|2023
23/50 days of productivity
Finally a sunny day, I don't know how long it will last, but it was great. This book I am reading for uni is becoming my arch nemesis, it will be my villain origin story, I am detesting it. I have been complaining a lot, but I have to get my frustration out so you'll have to excuse me. I got the weird idea of trying to power though the last two chapters tomorrow. I am not sure I'll manage but if I read them both in the morning when I am more focused I might manage to accomplish that. Wish me luck.
Productivity:
posted my first update on the 2023 fantasy reading challenge
finished writing down notes (and highlighted them) for the fourth chapter of Detienne's Creation of Mythology
read and highlighted the fifth chapter
wrote notes for the whole fifth chapter (I wasn't expecting to finish it today, and I am very proud I did)
finished downloading the recorded lectures of another course I want to work on in June
Irish on duolingo (still on my bare minimum bullshit so there has bene zero actual progress lately, but it's all my brain can take atm)
Self care:
read first thing in the morning
I'm trying to pay a bit more attention to my skin care but idk how long it will last (at least I'm trying)
📖: She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, The Creation Of Mythology by Marcel Detienne
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Reading Journals!? Why You Really Should!!
I'm writing this to promote the concept of reading journals in general for occultists!
It often seems like, while a lot of us read a ton, we don't engage enough with what we read. It's very important to think critically about the information we consume.
Keeping records of it can be helpful for that. While not everyone's going to vibe with it, I do recommend giving it a try for most witches, diviners, wizards, etc... you might like it. Keeping a reading journal? It has some advantages IMHO.
I found it works very well for keeping track of my reading goals. It also helped me engage more with what I was reading. I think this produced an altogether more interesting experience when reading fiction, too.
I learned more when reading nonfiction, and it helped prep reviews for this very website, too. It's kind of hard recently, because of health issues, but I want to keep a daily reading habit as best I can. I might change up my journaling format, though, which I'll discuss towards the end of this article.
To begin, you need a journal. Any blank notebook will work. A lot of people swear by dot grid journals. I use those for most other things. For my reading journal, I bought a pre-printed one called Kunitsa, and there are others on the market, too.
Beyond that, you only need a pen. I use a lot of highlighters and other color in my reading journal, to make tracking things more fun. Next, you're going to want to include a table of contents for your reading journal if possible. In fact, I recommend doing that for all journals, but that's another story entirely. If you pick a pre-printed reading journal like mine, choose one with such a feature.
If you're a DIYer, leave a few blank pages at the beginning of your notebook for the table of contents. Usually four or five pages will do for a table of contents, depending on the size of the journal itself. Including a table of contents can also help get past those first-page jitters if it's a blank book.
A reading journal can include an inventory of your library. My own library is digital because I have to cross the Atlantic on a frequent basis. Those with physical books might find it useful to catalogue everything, particularly favorites.
This could even include where it's stashed. Given that I could easily print a list of mine, my journal doesn't have this, but yours could. You could also organize your library based on the criteria of your choice. I do this digitally, and it can be great to be able to pull out a list of (for example) all the Tarot books I own, favorites, etc..
Keep track of your reading goals! This is the big one, of course. I try to read at least thirty minutes per day, and I log each day I meet that goal. A reading journal can include a simple daily reading tracker like mine, or variations on that.
Some people might track how many pages they've read, or even chapters, for example. You can, of course, include your To Be Read list, adding to it and crossing out as needed.
Keep track of books, authors and topics. You'll want to include a page or two for each book you read, with meaningful quotations and your own thoughts. Some people get quite elaborate with this, including diagrams, images, and such.
I stick to quoting the parts I found important, then adding my own notes. If you buy a reading journal, choose one formatted for both fiction and nonfiction. These little "spreads" on each book help a ton if you want to prepare reviews later on, or just to keep track of what you’ve read for the future.
The reading journal I've been using has a section for borrowed books. Since all my books are Kindle, and I don't typically borrow books, I repurposed this for my review schedule. You can create your own spread for that kind of thing if you're doing a DIY approach, which would be even better.
Because I didn't see a use for the first two pages of the notebook, I turned them into a little pocket using washi tape. I figure that if necessary, I can include extra trackers/etc on my own paper in the pocket. I haven't done that yet, but I probably will in the new year. Currently, the pocket only contains some unused stickers.
You could, of course, get much more complicated with a reading journal! It's all up to you. I plan to use a similar setup next time around, but doing it myself in a (larger) dot grid notebook. The preprinted version of a reading journal worked well to get me started. Now that I've got the basics figured out, I want to customize things more.
All and all, I know most occultists love journaling. At least, many of us do. But why don't more of us journal about what we read? Dedicating a notebook just for a reading journal worked great for me, and might work for you, too.
I'd look into different options (preprinted, blank notebooks, digital) before getting started. Don't be afraid to mess up, like with any new notebook. It can become a way of looking deeper into what you're reading, though.
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