Using Poetry to Inspire My April Bullet Journal Setup
April is Poetry Month
April 1st means it is officially poetry month! I woke up this morning to an email letter from Jennifer Benka, executive director of The Academy of American Poets or Poets.Org. In her email, she stated, “More and more people are turning to poetry at this moment, because amid fear and uncertainty, poetry can help bring needed strength. At a time of anxiety and alarm, poetry can help bring tranquility. Poetry has the power to bring us together.” Poetry is powerful. I have to admit that over the course of the past week or so, I had started reading a little less. I had tried to keep up with my journaling, I was writing away on the blog, but my reading was something that sort of fell off. On a day I was feeling particularly funky, I remembered a line from The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney where the main character asked, “What else is possible?” in response to not assuming the worst outcome right away. The poem stuck in my brain as being so important right now. There is always something that goes awry. Stubbed your toe? Slow down. Dishwasher broke? You have an opportunity to learn how to fix something. Unexpected school closures in the last third of the school year due to a pandemic virus? Perhaps there is a reason.
I repeat, perhaps there is a reason.
I immediately started to round up the poetry books and novels-in-verse that were in my house and on my bookshelf. I am making a plan for my reading this month focusing on novels-in-verse and poetry. I was scared I had left a ton at school. I had. However, I had more access to poetry and books than I realized. I made a giant stack, and then I spent the rest of the day making a plan for my journal around poetry. I got excited about collecting poems, making lists, and trying to find the right words. Then, I paused when I came across Sarah Kay’s Poem “The Paradox.”
Her words perfectly summed up what it feels like to be in quarantine and simultaneously feel the pressure to be productive and appreciative of the time to daydream. It seems so fitting that right now-in this moment-we are face-to-face with poetry month. Poems have always helped shape my teaching and worldview. As we look at how to plan for the next coming month, let’s let poetry be the underlying theme that pushes us forward and helps pull us along if needed.
April Cover Spread
I started by making a curated personal collection of poems that I needed. My main inspirational book, For Everyone by Jason Reynolds, is currently on my desk at school. However, I have reached for it so many times I have some of the stanzas memorized. I added to my list from there. I included novels-in-verse and other poems that were important to me as a person and as a teacher. I have also gotten into the habit of taking pictures of poems whenever they take my breath away. This came in handy while we are social distancing because many of the poems I wanted to mark with a sticky note for my poetry brainstorm were in my Google Photos. Poems from Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany Brown and We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson. I let my mind wander. Reading over all of these titles is almost like creating a personal collection against worry and anxiety. In these poems, there are strength, hope, and courage.
Journal Prompt: In your notebook or journal, find a poem that resonates with you. Find a list of poems to refer to on a day when you are having a hard time or need encouragement.
April Monthly Layout
This is a simple monthly layout. The rainbow dots correspond to my goals.
April Goal Spread
Journal Prompts:
PRODUCTIVITY: What are my priorities this month? What do I want to accomplish? List 3 projects that would make you feel great if they were done by the end of the month.
FEELINGS: How do you want to feel each day? What do you have to do in order to feel this way? What feelings will you forgive?
INSPIRATION: What is currently inspiring you? What is making you feel creative, smart, or energized? Feel free to clip pictures, doodle, or print out quotes to put in this area.
REFLECTION: What method of reflection do you want to use on a daily basis? Will you do morning pages? Will you use brain dumps?
LEARNING: What do you want to learn more about? What will you read? What will you learn how to do?
GOALS: What specific goals do you want for yourself? Do you have habits you want to form or break?
Personal
Professional
Finance
Health
March Monthly Reflection
April Day Log Example
I normally use weekly layouts. If you look at any of my older posts, I love a good weekly layout. However, because of the current circumstance of social distancing and quarantine, I am moving to dailies. The reason why is that It can become overwhelming trying to plan a whole week when your week doesn’t have the usual schedule. I want to make sure I am slowing down and being purposeful each and every day. I will start in the morning with morning pages before I do yoga, and then I will make out what I want to get done each day. The monthly spread will house the big picture ideas, but I want to really focus on taking this whole ordeal day-by-day.
Poetry Writing Challenge
I love writing on the blog, but I also want to make sure I am tapping into other areas of creativity. I love the Piccadilly Write the Poem book as a daily guide, and then I also like the Paint Chip Poetry: A Game of Color and Wordplay by Lea Redmond to help with this personal challenge. My plan is to pull three paint chips after I find a prompt that I like. I am going to spend 5-10 minutes in the morning working through this exercise as a way to have some fun and create poems.
I Changed My Mind
I feel like sometimes we only get to see the highlight reels of bullet journaling when we look at posts. I wanted to show my first attempt at making this month’s layouts by using quotes I love from poems I love. I spent some time this morning making the layouts and finding the words; however, I realized writing on the words was going to confuse me and make me feel unorganized. I decided to scrap my plan, and I went with a simpler approach. I needed the reminder that journals are messy places. They are reflective of our thinking and show where our thoughts travel. I appreciated this changing of my plan because I got to relish in some of the poems, and I found two new weekly layouts I liked a lot and can use when I return to using those layouts in my journal.
Don’t be afraid to try something out and be messy. It is just a journal.