As Janice Lengphounpraseut created and wrote in her first journals, her mom would watch over her shoulder. Sometimes she would help her daughter pick out what to add; sometimes she nagged her about her constant journaling.
Lengphounpraseut’s mom has since died, and is part of the reason Lengphounpraseut started the Nashville Junk Journal Club.
“It was one of my favorite memories, and I want to build a part of that feeling in honor of my relationship with my mom,” Lengphounpraseut says.
Junk journaling specifically incorporates recycled and repurposed materials into the journaling process. The Nashville Junk Journal Club began just this year, when Lengphounpraseut posted on TikTok and Instagram about a free journaling event she was hosting at the Nashville Public Library's Inglewood branch. The event filled its spots in less than eight hours. Since then, she’s started hosting events at a second location at the library's Pruitt branch. Lengphounpraseut plans to host free journaling events the last Saturday of each month — though the next meeting will take place Sunday, March 8, at cafe and bar Verna. (Register to attend here.)
Since the club began, she’s gained more than 1,000 followers on TikTok, and more than 200 on Instagram.
Lengphounpraseut’s first event was affected by Winter Storm Fern, which caused power outages and left the Inglewood library branch closed. But Lengphounpraseut found a new home for her first event at Fait la Force Brewing. About 20 people showed up to Fait la Force — and some left with new friends.
“There's a girl that lives here in Nashville, and another one who drove up from Murfreesboro,” Lengphounpraseut said at the event. “They’re currently hanging out at the brewery right now, and they just met today.”
A Nashville Junk Journal Club meeting, Jan. 31
Lengphounpraseut hopes to build a community for people to make friends and create an accessible space for people who can’t afford to go out often.
“I wanted to do the junk journal meetups at the library because the library is a free resource for everybody,” Lengphounpraseut says.
In hopes of creating a community, Lengphounpraseut wants everyone to treat each other respectfully and with kindness, despite their political differences — she wants people to approach one another with compassion.
For her, it’s been a great outlet since she was 8 years old. It feels almost like writing in a diary — letting out her feelings and memories — especially after her mom’s death.
“Journaling was my outlet to cope with grief in the past couple of months,” Lengphounpraseut says. “And it's the one thing that has always been consistent in my entire life that has never left.”
A Nashville Junk Journal Club meeting, Jan. 31
Just like Lengphounpraseut, many others at the Pruitt location find junk journaling to be a great way to hold memories and creative expression.
About 40 people showed up to the club's Jan. 31 event, carrying tote bags and boxes full of crafts and junk to fill up their journals. A “junk bar” was set up in the back of the room, which provided materials for people to grab and add to their page spreads. As people chattered and worked on their journals, Lengphounpraseut helped those who are starting their first junk journal.
Carrie Buck, an attendee at the Pruitt library event, snipped and glued candy wrappers to her journal, creating a collage of all her favorites. Buck’s journal includes interactive elements, like a box of french fries that opens up, and a page with the Disney character Stitch that unfolds.
This is Buck's first junk journal; it might be time for her to start a second one.
“I started it Christmas Eve, and this is where we are,” Buck says, showing off her well-loved, chunky journal. “We’re about to bust at the seams. My back stickers are peeling up because of the curvature of the journal.”
A Nashville Junk Journal Club meeting, Jan. 31
Leticia Rodriguez has been journaling for more than a year. Rodriguez recently moved to Nashville and is starting to get more involved in the community. She found out about the event through Eventbrite.
“I started with actual junk at first, but then it just kind of blossomed into creative journaling,” Rodriguez says.
Junk journaling might seem intimidating at a glance, but Lengphounpraseut encourages people to just start.
“You can take the stickers off the vegetable produce section and put it in your journal,” Lengphounpraseut says. “I mean, it's just go ahead and start. There's no wrong time to start at all.”
