For our “X Questions With” series, we’re speaking with talented individuals from around the world who have inspired us with their creativity and passion. If you have a story to tell or someone you’d like to see profiled, let us know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter!
Image Source: “October Favourites”
Today, we’re chatting with Lisa, an up-and-coming lifestyle blogger (and pretty fabulous photographer) with some thoughtful insights into the psychological benefits of journalling. To read more of Lisa’s work, be sure to check out her blog www.followinglisa.com.
1) Please tell us a little about yourself (any info you’d like to provide)
Name: Lisa
Age: 19
City: Germany, near Munich
Places: I haven’t travelled outside of Europe yet but I really want to
Passions: Music, dance, books, writing, photography
Occupation: Psychology student
Creative Works: My blog Following Lisa (and various fanfictions before that)
Image Source: “The Notebook”
2) We discovered your blog, Following Lisa, after you tagged us in a Tweet about your post on journalling to help de-stress. How did you end up choosing a Paperblanks journal for that post?
I have a habit of buying notebooks but never using them in the end. With this attempt I really wanted to get myself something special that wouldn’t be just added to my collection of unused notebooks. I’ve been seeing Paperblanks journals around for years and I love the designs. It’s definitely that something special I was looking for. It feels like it is worth holding my thoughts in a way.
3) How did you discover that journalling was a way to help with anxiety and insomnia?
I noticed fairly early in my blogging years that writing down my thoughts on products/projects helped me to get them out of my head. I never realised what that meant though. When I was really struggling recently, I met a homeless man who chatted with me for a while. He got me thinking but I couldn’t talk about it to anybody. I couldn’t find sleep that night, so I got my laptop out and wrote down everything on my mind. Afterwards I could sleep peacefully. That was how it all started.
4) Do you use a journal for anything else?
Honestly, not really. I do keep my planner with me at all times and have a little note section in there, if something hits my mind. For the most part, I like to use my laptop for notes as I have really bad handwriting. Even I can’t tell what I wrote for the most part.
5) For readers who haven’t had a chance to check out your Following Lisa blog, could you tell us a little about it?
I like to call it my little place on the internet where I can ramble away. It’s a mixture of beauty and lifestyle with some fashion mixed in there. Basically, I write about whatever comes to my mind. If I tried out a new product I will review it and if I found a helpful tip I’ll write about it. I also try to give some advice about girly things once and again, especially since I think we don’t talk enough about certain things.
6) How was it that you got into lifestyle blogging?
In the beginning I was focusing more on the beauty section of my blog, but I soon realised that I am not as good as others when it comes to doing makeup. That was when I took a step back and wrote more about other things I liked. I reviewed books, talked about films and music. Slowly, more and more lifestyle topics were added. Now I try to keep a good balance between beauty and lifestyle.
Image Source: “Money, Money, Money”
7) Do you have a particular subject matter that you especially love writing about?
Just in general I love writing about topics that are close to my heart. As weird as it may sound those are mostly topics that the internet doesn’t really like talking about. For example, I published a thought-provoking post about that homeless man I had a conversation with not too long ago, and very recently I wrote about Toxic Shock Syndrome. I do love giving advice, so my post about using journaling to de-stress is up in that list with my favourite posts.
8) Any advice you would share with fellow journallers or bloggers hoping to share their thoughts with a larger audience?
This sounds really cliché but just be yourself. Don’t compare your blog to other blogs. If you like to write longer posts, don’t shorten them just to fit in with others. In the end, your readers will stay with you because they like something about you and not because you are like someone else. Also, try and be a part of the community as soon as you can. Join in on Twitter chats and make some friends on Instagram. With the mass of blogs around it’s hard to get noticed otherwise.
