I started creating a sort of calendar scrapbook in January 2021.
People have created all sorts of projects to keep track of time. There is the ever-detailed bullet journaling, gratitude journals for those who aspire to live an eternal thanksgiving, a million little, gimmicky keepsake books often for purchase in aesthetically pleasing boutique gift shops, and of course, good old fashion scrapbooking.
In this calendar-making practice, the format I’ve fallen into is not original. It’s a riff off every calendar you have ever hung on your wall or propped up on your desk. What’s different about calendaring is not what is physically created, but how it is made.
If you want to take some time each month to reflect and play around with making art, below is your guide to what calendaring.
NYC people!
I host Calendar Club on the first Wednesday of every month at the McCarren Parkhouse. Together we reflect and play around with making art, just like I outline in this guide. Come and meet other fun, creatively curious locals.
Calendar
verb.
To artfully mark time.present participle: calendaring
adj. play, reflect, create, memorialize, pause
While many use calendars as a tool to plan ahead, my calendar practice is used to reflect on the past. At the end of every month, ideally the last day or within the first few days of the new month, I sit down and ask, “What do I remember from the month? What do I want to remember?”
I think of it like a time capsule, one rooted in the physical world where I chose how I want to remember time for myself instead of whatever social media sites remind me I did "one year ago." Each month, I give myself two pages next to one another, one to memorialize time and the other to record time.
Memorialize time
On this page, I think about preserving a memory of the month. It’s all visual.
I love collage because it relies on taste more than skill. Collaging only asks that you collect what is interesting to you and throw it on the page without being precious.
Throughout the month, make a game of collecting collage materials. Pick up those postcards they sometimes give you at restaurants, save your snail mail, stash away your mindless doodles from work, and when you rip off a concert wristband at the end of the night, save it!
Maybe another medium is calling you. Maybe each month you want to experiment with something new. Allow yourself the freedom to paint, draw, and craft away in whatever mode you choose!
Record time
Here, the objective is to document the evidence. What happened? How were you feeling?
For the past two years, I went with the standard, seven-row calendar squares to track time. For the first year, I successfully filled in the squares daily and even created a key some months to track how I felt, inspired by the Dear Data project.
But in 2022, I couldn’t get myself to keep track of each day. It felt like a chore. My square which I carefully drew and hand-stamped went largely untouched.
My friend
joined me in calendaring for 2022 and she used her "record" page to pause and reflect on the month in one sitting.In February, she boiled each day down to a moment. March, she artfully brain-dumped memories and feelings. April she celebrated special days, weekends, and weeks. May was sorted into buckets of recollections.
There is something powerful about doing your calendar all in one sitting, instead of attempting to keep track and make sense of every moment as it unfolds.
Ancient Greeks used two very different words for time: Kronos and Kairos. Kronos is the time we feel in our bodies and have attempted to organize our lives around using clocks and calendars. Kairos time is when “life is suddenly, unalterably defined, separated into a Before and an After.”
Sitting down and reflecting this way creates your own little Kairos moment. You get to define what is the before and what is the after. For a moment, you are in control of the force of time, which is largely uncontrollable.
I invite you into this practice of calendaring.
If you live in NYC, I host Calendar Club monthly. Join us!
If you live elsewhere, invite a friend to your apartment and work on your calendars together. Say hello in the intros thread and maybe you’ll find someone near you.
Start on your own. The first year, I created my calendar each month in my bedroom alone and it was a calm moment to check in with myself. I’d share a picture when I finished on Instagram and was delighted by friends sharing in the memories.
There is no right way to the calendar. Break all the rules you’ve outlined in your head. Take some time to artfully mark time.
Supplies list
To get started, here’s what you will need.
A notebook. It can be big or small. Mixed media notebooks offer nice, thick paper that allows you the freedom to experiment. Strathmore is the brand I usually get but any will do. I like the ones with a spiral binding so I can hole punch the pages and then hang them nice and flat on the wall.
The basics. Scissors, glue, and something to write with are the basic necessities. As you get started, don’t worry about investing in fancy supplies. Get creative with what you have.
Collect. Gather magazines, newspapers, ticket stubs, old receipts, and whatever else you have lying around. Create a swipe file of things you like but don’t need today and might want to use in a later month.
Print photos. Your own photos, of sites you saw and people you love, can be great source material to memorialize your month. I print a handful of pictures at my local Walgreens each month. They always have coupons. Do not checkout without using a coupon people! Pro tip: I put my photos into Canva, create a 6 x 4 in. canvas, and put 4-6 pictures on each canvas. That way my photos are smaller, I can fit more on the page, and you get more bang for your buck when you print.
Questions? Drop a comment.
Hi Katie
I came across your profile through "Writers Office Hours". First of all I think it's crazy that you felt inspired by Dear Data to create "Tinier Desk". I discovered her last week ( I'm a fan of her work and now of yours as well) . That being said. I'm actually here because I've applied for the "Event Planner" position @Substack in New York and I wanted to connect with you and/or anyone who is willing to chat about how much I would love to be considered for that position. In the internet era being persistent and showing interest in any way is a must. So here I am. My name is Isabella Pocaterra btw. :)