why i keep a media journal
and you should too
I started a YouTube channel in October of 2023 because of media journals.
As a devoted YouTube watcher of over two decades, and having enjoyed videos within the Booktube niche for most of that time, I was very familiar with reading journals. But I'm not just an avid reader; I also watch a lot of TV and films and experience bouts of hyperfocus on one specific type of media - like only listening to podcasts for weeks or playing a video game that was just released with little care towards anything else.
Since I was interested in journaling about all parts of the media I consumed, I went to the search bar to look up inspiration and examples on YouTube (I think we do this because we’re seeking community, validation, and inspiration). Except that I didn't find much. I was saddened to see very few people keeping media journals, and even fewer were keeping them how I wanted to— as a form of memory keeping.
It's my belief that we are the media we consume, but what's more, the media we consume can also be a time capsule for who we were at that moment. You can tell that there’s a general fascination with logging the things you read and watch because websites like Goodreads, Storygraph, and Letterboxd exist. These are spaces where you can keep track of the TV shows, books, and movies you’ve consumed and can also form a community around those things. But what about on a personal level? What’s the value of media logging there?
Aside from a way of keeping track in a purely productive stance, there’s something to be said about picking up a journal and seeing what you read or watched x amount of years ago. We often remember the media that directly changes our lives. But even media we didn’t really like or don’t remember well has lodged itself in our psyche and informed the way we live after we’ve consumed it. That might sound woo-woo to some of you or far-fetched, and it’s your right to think that way, but I don’t think it is. Our realities are solely our own based on our own lived experiences, and even if our conscious mind doesn’t remember something, our subconscious mind does.
All that being said, this isn’t the main reason I keep a media journal.
“It's my belief that we are the media we consume, and what's more, the media we consume can also be a time capsule for who we were at that moment.”
I have a bad memory, which is one of the reasons I'm drawn to journaling and memory-keeping in the first place. I’m also a homebody, spending a lot of time consuming media as one of my hobbies, and the type of media I’m consuming changes based on the seasons of my life.
I can look back at 2022 and see that I read heavily that year compared to 2023, for example, because I kept track of it somewhere. Memories become blurry the longer it’s been since we’ve experienced them. I probably won't remember, off the top of my head, information as seemingly unimportant as that in five or ten years, but my journals will be there to remind me, and I’m happier for it. But that’s still not the main reason I keep a media journal.
The media I consume is always emotionally attached to what I experienced in life when I was exposed to it. In essence, I read and watch things based on my mood first and foremost (as many people do, if not most, even if they don’t admit it). So I can usually tell what mood I was in just by the things I watched or read in a week, in a month, in a year. I know I’m not alone in this because I’ve heard others say, “I know I’m in a bad mental health state when I binge x type of media.”
I’ve been creating a monthly playlist since 2019 after seeing
post hers on one of the social media sites I follow her on. As I'm writing this, it's 2024, which means I have five completed years of monthly playlists – of the songs I was listening to most each month. That’s 63 playlists and counting, and I can remember vague things about where I was or who I was with as I listened to those songs in each playlist.Whenever I hear “Pocket full of sunshine,” I remember one ride down the freeway on our way home back from school in Puerto Rico when I was 10. When I hear “Chariot,” I remember being in an apartment living with my grandparents as I worked from home, having started my first business recently, and being so excited for the days to come. When I listen to Bohemian Rhapsody,I remember a road trip I took with some of my best friends to North Carolina in 2019. When I listen to the songs on my March and April 2020 playlists, I remember how my world began shattering and has been shattering since.
“The media I consume is always emotionally attached to what I experienced in life when I was exposed to it.”
I wouldn’t think of remembering these things if I didn’t have spaces that hold those memories in waiting for me. I know where to look for them if I need or want to find them. They are glimpses my past self has left for me via the art others have made and sent into the world. They are a way for me to participate with the art and merge it into my own lived experiences. They are a part of who I am.
They are as important to me as images of my cats, of my friends and family, and of my house. I live those experiences as much as the ones I take on vacation, in a new city, or on a long drive to places I’ve never seen before. I am transported by every book I read, every movie or show I watch, and every song I listen to. I get to return to the version of me that went there each time I am reminded of it.
That’s all memory keeping is- opportunities to travel back in time, sitting inside notebooks long ago archived. That’s the main reason I keep a media journal. They are an opportunity to witness myself in different way, in a way no one else can access, because so much of the media we consume causes a personal evolution: inside the mind and heart.
The way I use a media journal has changed throughout the years, but the reasons remain the same. Sometimes, I need more words to remind me, and sometimes, just the title of the media will bring it all back. You have to decide how much detail is important to you or necessary.
Some people keep media journals via reviews, and some do basic media logging. Some people will make collages or paste images of the media covers and collect the quotes inside a journal. Some will write about the feelings they experienced or where and when they experienced it. I’ve done, and do, a variety of all these things depending on whether the media was more or less impactful to me. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way- you get to decide for yourself what feels right and true to you.
My website is officially live which means if you want more media journal inspiration, check out my blog post! It includes this essay and some YT channels of creators who also keep media journals that I recommend you check out.
Additionally exciting news is that I launched my patreon last week!!!! I plan on writing a letter on why I decided to open a patreon soon but if you’d like more content and behind-the-scenes stuff from me go check it out: https://www.patreon.com/ellanym
As always your support means the world to me in whichever way you choose to extend it <3
Hi Ella, may I just say you are absolutely killing it! Just chiming in to show my support. ✨ I’ve been enchanted by your media journals so I am excited to watch your masterclass!