Greetings,
A few years ago, as some of you may recall, I reviewed a documentary called 1000 Journals. It was all about a guy who sent 1000 journals into the world to try and reawaken the creativity of whomever may come across them. It seemed to work quite well, and I gave this documentary much praise. You may go ahead and read that review if you don't believe. I could use the views. Anyway, in that review, I mentioned that the creator of the project, Someguy (yes, that's what he calls himself. I'm fine with that.), decided to put some of what people gave to those journals into one book to be published for all to see. That is the book I will be speaking about today, The 1000 Journals Project.
One of the things I liked about the 1000 Journals documentary was how I got to see so many different people and the way they chose to express themselves artistically, even if they never would classify themselves as artists. The entire project proved that, while not everyone can be the next Rembrandt, we all have the ability to use art to share things about ourselves, if only we are given the motivation to do so. It was so interesting seeing the pages that this huge, diverse group of people from all over the world were putting into these formerly blank books. All the while I was watching, I was thinking how amazing it would be to get some of that art, some of those words and expressions, in a book that I could own. Thankfully, in 2007, that is exactly what happened.
Now, I must warn you that this is not a typical book. As you may have suspected, there is much visual art in it, but that's not to say there is no writing. There is, so you can say that it's not technically a picture book, if you get caught reading it. You can, however, refer to it as an art book. And it happens to be a very interesting one, as well. When you think about it, you are literally reading the journals of other people. You can even say you're reading their diaries if you want to sound more devious and old school. That's how I do it. And frankly, if there's something that makes me like the book even more than the movie, it is the mystery involved. And there is a mystery...so long as you steer clear of the last few pages of the book. Let me explain.
With the documentary, you see many of those people as they are putting things into the journal, or you can see pictures of what they did whilst they talk about it and themselves. With the book, you don't know who did what. As I said, so long as you keep out of the end of the book. Because that's where they list names and match them with the pages. But I suggest you stay away, only if you want to keep said mystery alive. That way you can continue really not knowing these people. Again, it is like finding a stranger's journal and taking a very detailed glance into their head and heart, their life and soul. I believe that makes it far more intriguing. It could be anyone in the world who put those words, those images onto those pages. It could even be someone who you know, or used to know. It could be someone you may know in your future. That is fascinating to me, and it lets the creativity of the original idea become even more of a legacy than even Someguy intended. But you can look at the names if you want. I can"t tell you what to do.
So, I really do suggest that you check out The 1000 Journals Project, the book, as well as the movie, if you can. Or if you're more of a movie person. I like to think that those movie people will see it and not be able to help getting a hold of the book as well. Now that is a testament to the power of creativity.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
