Case Studies
From our past students
Kathy
BEFORE taking a journaling class, I would journal when and if I thought about it.  
  • In one of my journals, I would write affirmations and manifestations of things that I was hoping would happen in my life.
  • In another journal were my inspirational leadership quotes that I would use when I was sending a work email.
AFTER taking the class with Allen and Lisa, I now take my journals everywhere, I even take them camping.
  • I now look forward to the time I’ll spend working in my journals.  
  • I’ve also started some journals where I write letters to my children and husband, I also started to write letters to my grandchildren, after writing them, l mail them.





  • Now when I journal, I find myself using mixed media when I create; I am more creative and more artistic.



I also found journaling gives me a connection between my chemo treatment and the caregivers.
 


During my chemo treatment, I’ll ask the nurse for a word of the day, and I’ll reflect on healing.  When I do this, I know which nurse it was, for example, Bella gave me hope, Vic gave me peace, this provides me with a sense of purpose and connection.
 


  • I also found that journaling helps me lower anxiety and provides a safe place to cope with challenging health concerns.
  • Journaling has also helped me to accept some realities in my life.
Daniel

BEFORE taking a journaling class, I never considered journaling other than dusty old entries used to talk about days gone; a small, leather-bound book, full of dates and blocks of text.  
  • From my perspective, journals were simply an item to be picked in a video game, where you scan the wall for blocks text looking for a code to a door or a piece of information to press forward in a level. 
AFTER taking my first journaling class with Allen and Lisa, I realized that I was journaling, just not in a traditional manner.  
  • Not once did I consider a sketchbook to be a form of journaling. 
  • I never knew a journal could be drawings, cutouts, newspaper clippings, labels, basically anything that would allow you to express yourself. 





  • I began my journaling journey after a decade of laying down my pencils and sketchbooks.
  • With a pencil in my hand and a blank page before me, I began to work, my brain and hand fought in tandem, after an hour of struggling, I made my first drawing in ten years.   
  • It was crude, nonetheless, it was a drawing. 
  • Having made this drawing, it was interesting that I suddenly had the desire to start drawing once again.

 


  • I slowly began to purchase pencils, pens & inks, a fresh sketchbook from a dollar store, an old drawing book from 1940s. 
  • When I began my first drawing tutorial, I rediscovered an outlet for my brain.  
  • From mind to hand and paper, this combination allowed me to express endless possibilities.  
  • This expression resulted in me making small drawings, cutting them out and taping them into my new sketchbook, thus creating a flipbook of my progress.


 


My journals now contain personal artwork, drawing tutorials, class assignments, drawings made from pencil, pen and watercolor; I love how these mediums make the pages crinkle. 
 


  • From that day forward, I took my sketchbook and made it something that I would want to fill out every single page, add pages from other drawings, and add snippets of text from art books. 
  • I wanted to create a journal where every page held something special, a journal I would want to show off, something I would be proud to keep on a shelf at home. 
  • I am truly amazed by my progress, from a crude drawing done in the middle of the night, to drawings that have become my personal treasures.