Document Your Life

Welcome to Creatives Anonymous, a weekly newsletter that explores what it means to be a modern-day creative. It inspires, encourages, and empowers readers to take back their creative power.

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One of my ultimate flexes is that I was junk journaling before it became cool to junk journal. 

Over the last 15 years, I’ve collected ephemera—postcards, brochures, stickers, receipts, and tickets compiled into over 30 books documenting my life. 

I recently pulled them out of my closet to display on an empty shelf and enjoyed walking down memory lane. It was cool to see things I kept, like my high school graduation announcement, a picture captured with a pinhole camera during a photography class, and memories from my first trip to Seattle years before I moved here (back when it was $6 to go up to the Columbia Tower).  

From a young age, I became acquainted with documenting my life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a camera in my hand (I think I got my first point-and-shoot at age 7 or 8) and then started to collect ephemera (I blame my mom who was a Creative Memories stan in the mid-aughts and collected everything she could to build out the scrapbooks. Sorry, Mom). 

I’ve done it for so long that it’s become second nature. I’ve built a practice of keeping a junk journal (or, as I like to call it, “memory keeping”) of my memories from that month every month. 

I usually document:

• What I’m wearing

• What I’m eating 

• Media I consume 

• Who I’m with 

• What I’m doing 

• Places I’m going

• BTS of projects I’m working on

• The world around me (flowers, art, etc.)

Not only is documenting great for collecting memories, but there are other benefits I’ve noticed from regularly documenting. One is identifying trends. Just last week, I was looking through my Style File (all the pictures of my outfits I’ve taken over the last several months) and noticed repeating patterns in some of my favorite outfits. It gives me valuable information about what pieces I feel good in, what colors I like pairing together, and more. 

In that way, documenting is like creating lab notes for yourself where you can collect data that you can use to optimize. It gives you insight into how you evolve, whether it’s your interests, skills, or tastes. If you are an artist, it can also provide insight into how your art style has changed. 

Here are some examples of ephemera you can collect for documenting:

• Receipts 

• Beer coasters

• Stickers

• Posters & flyers

• Tickets 

• Cutouts from newspapers or magazines

• Branded napkins & wrappers

• Wristbands

• Photos

• Postcards

• Cards & letters

• Freebies that come in packages you order 

• Boarding passes 

• Pressed pennies 

Then there’s documenting’s close cousin: clipping. 

I define “clipping” as capturing anything that piques your interests or curiosity. Simply put, it’s anything that you resonate with.  

I started keeping a commonplace book for that purpose. Commonplace books compile knowledge, musings, and anything else that captures my attention. They are commonly referred to as a “florilegium,” or a collection of literary extracts—an anthology, if you will. 

Looking back at my clippings, I notice various themes. We usually filter things that resonate with us based on what’s on our minds, whether it relates to our goals or struggles (the weekly musings I add at the end of this newsletter usually come from my commonplace book).   

Here is a list of things I usually clip: 

• Quotes

• Social media posts 

• Bible verses

• Concepts & ideas

• Lines from the media I consume

• Magazine layouts 

Together, everything you clip and document makes up the fabric of your life. It tells a story about who you are at that moment—your interests, experiences, and thoughts.

It’s also a great gateway to a more creative and exciting life. When we document and clip, we pay more attention to the world around us and what interests us. As a result, we connect more with ourselves and better understand who we are. We develop our unique tastes and perspectives. Moreover, it’s a creative practice we can implement daily. 

My best tips for documenting and clipping: 

• Pay attention to what catches your eye, piques your curiosity, or inspires you, and capture it! Write it down, take a photo, or pick it up. There is nothing too stupid or dumb.

• Aggregate it all in one place—a notebook, camera roll, or your notes app all work. 

• Start a commonplace book or junk journal.   

• There is no right way to document and clip, so don’t worry about being aesthetic or perfect.

• Make it a practice—challenge yourself to take photos when you go out. Save flyers and tickets from events you go to. Grab stickers and coasters. 

• It’s not too late! You can start today—you don’t have to wait until January 1.

• Start small and build up the habit. 

• Experiment and have fun! Documenting and clipping is a creative practice after all.

Do you have a documentation or clipping practice? Reply to this email and let me know what your process looks like.

CREATIVE CORNER

• 🎞️ What I’m Consuming: Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building

• 💡 What I’m Loving: I came across the idea of writing yourself a letter on your birthday and reading it on your next one. I wrote one to read on my 31st birthday and one to read on my 40th.

• 🎨 What I’m Working On: Building out a new goal hub in Notion (the new updates are 🔥)

• 💭 Weekly Musing:

Thank you 💕

If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you could forward it to someone who you think would like it, too!

I’m so grateful for all of your support!

Alexa Phillips is a writer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate creative. She is the founder and Chief Brand Architect at Bright Eyes Creative, a creative studio that helps creative entrepreneurs build brand worlds that bring their vision to life and connect deeply with their audiences.

Where to find me:

• Buy my new offer, Musing to Monetized, a 4-week offer development intensive to help you turn your 1:1 service into a done-with-you (DWY) offer.

• Listen to my recent podcast episodes here

• Grab my Brand Realignment Workbook to help realign your brand

• Register for my masterclass, “Scale Smarter: Build Your First Done-With-You Offer,” next Tuesday, 11/5, at 11 am PST.