The 1000 Journals Project

Do you keep a travel journal? Admire graffiti and anonymous bathroom stall scrawls? Have you ever kept a group diary with your girlfriends, passing it around sharing stories, doodles, and thoughts from your day?

image by Gregory Hogan

The 1000 journals project is like all of these things rolled into one and made public. The project started in August 2000, when the creator distributed 1000 different journals by giving them to friends and leaving them around San Francisco in places like cafes, parks, and bars. The idea was that of shared creativity, that each person should contribute something to the book and then pass it on to a new person, in whatever manner they might choose. People wrote essays, shared their thoughts, drew, painted, glued, and even sewed images, fabric, and all sorts of things into the journals. Some of the journal pages were compiled into a book, images from which you can see below. Eventually a documentary film by Andrea Kreuzhage sharing the stories of people whose lives were touched by the journal was made as well. Watch the trailer here:

images copyright the 1000 Journals Project

So many became interested and wanted to participate that the 1001 journals project was launched. This project allows people to sign up to receive a journal by mail and encourages individuals to get their own journals started which they can send out or leave at a specific location. If you’re interested, check the site out here.

Have any of you gotten your hands on one of these elusive journals and contributed to this phenomenal project? Or perhaps you’ve done your own version with friends? Maybe the Travelettes should launch our very own traveling diary for adventurous ladies on the move!

post by Jackie Clark