Old journals.

My journals have evolved over the years. First I wrote a lot of dear diary kind of entries where I talked about my day. Then there was the time when I wrote more prompts and trackers I found on pinterest and there was more structure. Now the journals are more creative. I have tried bullet journaling, stream of consciousness and more picture heavy journals. The journals live through the changes in my life. At times I've had more time to put into them, so I've focused on visualising my life in words and pictures. Other times I've had journal entries out of necessity that have been more urgent and rough. What has stayed the same is that in some way they always reflect me and the time that I have been going through.

Daisy chains and school yard games

In my teenage years I wrote poems, about moving abroad and the music I listened to. It was such a romantic era with all these dreams that I was painting of the life I'd live. Very typically I would not only fill my walls with band posters, but also fill my my journals with pictures and lyrics too. One major band that I idolised was The Libertines. They had just been young guys with dreams and made music, wrote poems and above all... lived in London. I had dreamed about moving abroad since I was a kid, but only in my teens did I realise it could become a reality and that London was the place to be. It had the best music scene and I already knew English a little.

I had been a fan of Blur, Pulp and the Spice Girls when I had been in elementary school, but in my teenage years I discovered so much more. There was NME the music magazine that my library stocked and where I'd discover so many new bands to listen to. There was my new best friend I had made in school, who knew so much more about the music scene and the life in London than I did. She introduced me to so many beautiful things that led me to eventually save up and move to London. Of course she did it first (she was a grade above me) and when I visited... I fell in love. I knew I had to live in London. 

It will be mine, oh yes it will be mine.

So after graduation I moved. I had money I got from my dad when I turned 18 and I had saved up some too. I found a place on gumtree (a website for different kinds of adds) and moved in with two guys who had a band. One of them was going travelling and I got his room while he was away. Once my friend and two other of her friends moved to London we looked for a place of our own. We didn't care much about what it looked like as long as we had a place to call home. And that's how we found the New Rave Cave. The attic flat of a rundown building that eventually got a mouse problem even though it was on the top floor. My stay was short lived as I eventually got a job as an au pair, but New Rave Cave always stayed as a safe place to go to no matter what happened in life. Although eventually one by one all of the friends I had made moved out and we said goodbye to a place that created a lot of memories for us.

A little de-tour later (of going back to Finland for a while) I eventually ended up staying in London for many years. I made countless new friends from all over the world that had travelled to London and stayed from some months to some years. I would go to all the gigs I could afford. So many memories of the night outs with the drag queens and artists. I visited all the museums and art galleries. I walked through so many parts of the city, trying to find the place for the job interview, friend's place, a gig or an event, that now I am a walking guide book. I know all the best movie theaters (one of them being Prince Charles Cinema where I went to Wayne's World Schwing-along and got a cool sticker) best pizza, best burgers, best night outs, best views and best Sunday walks. But more on those on later posts.

Wander through

Below are some more snippets of my old journals but to see more head out to my youtube channel @The Odd Uneven Time I'll slowly share more and more of my journals and the stories from the past how-ever-many-years. So consider this as just the beginning!

Be kind to yourself and others!