Why are junk journals trending, and what are they actually? How can creativity and play support your healing. This post may include affiliate links – 10 Minute Read
Not all our healing happens through tidy sentences, bullet points, or carefully worded reflections.
Some days, words don’t come out neatly at all, or they don’t come out as words. Sometimes healing is a mess, or we want to make a mess.
That’s where junk journaling can enter the conversation.
Junk journals aren’t about perfectly pretty pages or curated aesthetics. They’re a juxtaposition of things. Scraps, textures, colours, words, and feelings, placed together with or without writing. They allow for creativity and play without boundaries, and that’s exactly why they’ve begun trending so strongly in recent years.
What started as a niche craft has found momentum on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, where creators share beautifully chaotic pages that feel alive, expressive, and connective.
But beneath the visuals is something more meaningful: a creative outlet without boundaries that supports emotional processing, memory-making, and healing by journaling, especially when traditional journaling feels too rigid.
By the end of this post, you’ll understand what a junk journal really is, why it’s resonating with so many right now, and how it can become a powerful tool for creative healing.
What Is a Junk Journal?
A junk journal is a handmade journal created from found, kept, recycled, or everyday materials. Despite the name, there’s nothing junk about it in the way we usually mean worthless.
Instead, junk refers to the freedom to use:
- torn paper
- envelopes
- old book pages
- receipts and ticket stubs
- magazine cut-outs
- scraps of fabric
- paint, pens, stamps, and glue
Unlike scrapbooking, junk journaling isn’t neat or clean-lined. It doesn’t aim for symmetry or perfection. Pages don’t need to match. Some might be full of writing, others completely visual. Some might hold memories. Others might hold mess and splashes of colour.Â
That’s the point.
A junk journal is less about documentation and more about expression. It’s where creativity and play meet emotional honesty and outlet.
Why Are Junk Journals Trending Right Now?
Junk journaling isn’t just trending because it’s cute. It’s trending because it meets several unmet emotional needs at once.
People Are Craving Creative Outlet Without Boundaries
We live in a productivity-driven world where creativity often comes with expectations: to be good at it, to share it, to monetise it, or to make it presentable.
Junk journaling removes those pressures completely.
I’ve heard from so many a craving to create, but a fear of not being able to “even draw a stick figure†stops them from trying anything. Junk journals remove that fear.
There are no rules, no timelines, no standards. You don’t need to finish a page, explain it, or even understand it yet. That freedom alone makes it deeply appealing, especially for people who feel emotionally overloaded or creatively blocked.
Visual Platforms Amplified the Movement
Pinterest and Instagram have played a huge role in the rise of junk journals. Flipping through textured pages, layered paper, handwritten notes, and imperfect spreads is visually soothing and oddly permission-giving.
Seeing someone else create without polish makes it easier to believe you’re allowed to do the same.
Healing Is Moving Beyond Talk-Only Models
There’s growing awareness that not all emotions are accessible through language. Trauma, grief, and stress often live in the body and nervous system, not in neat narratives.
Junk journaling offers a form of healing by journaling that doesn’t rely on writing or storytelling. You can tear paper when you’re angry. Layer dark colours when you’re heavy. Glue something down simply because it feels grounding.
That kind of expression matters.
What Can You Use in a Junk Journal, and Why?
One of the most powerful aspects of junk journaling is that materials aren’t chosen for how they look, but for how they feel.
You might use:
- Ticket stubs or postcards to mark moments you want to remember
- Receipts or packaging from ordinary days you survived
- Old book pages, when your own words feel stuck
- Torn paper and scraps when emotions feel fragmented
- Colours and textures that reflect how you’re feeling inside
There’s meaning in choosing what goes on a page, even when you don’t consciously analyse it.Â
That intuitive selection process is part of why art for healing works so well.
Can Junk Journals Be Used for Memory-Making and Healing?
Yes, and this is where junk journals really differ from other formats.
One page might hold a concert ticket, pressed leaves, or a note about a beautiful day. The next might hold messy brushstrokes, ripped edges, or words you never plan to reread.
Junk journals don’t ask you to separate joy from grief, or memories from emotions. They allow both to exist side by side, just like real life.
This flexibility makes them especially powerful while you’re navigating healing, identity shifts, or in any form of transition.
Why Junk Journals Are a Powerful Form of Art for Healing
Research consistently shows that creative expression supports emotional regulation and psychological well-being.
I know this firsthand, which is why I am such an advocate for creative expression in any form. My journaling, writing and art are my expression, meditation and emotional outlet.Â
Some key findings include:
- Expressive writing research demonstrates that processing emotions through creative expression improves both mental and physical health. While originally focused on writing, later studies show similar benefits through visual expression.
- Art therapy research indicates that non-verbal creative processes help access emotions stored beyond conscious language, particularly if you’ve been affected by trauma.Â
- Neuroscience research shows that creative play reduces stress hormones and activates neural pathways linked to safety, curiosity, and exploration.
Junk journaling naturally combines these elements:
- expression without pressure
- sensory engagement
- autonomy and choice
- emotional externalisation
This makes it an accessible, low-risk form of healing by journaling, especially for those who feel overwhelmed by structured self-help practices.
“But I’m Not Artistic†- It Doesn’t Matter!
This is the biggest misconception people have about anything creative. It matters even less in the case of junk journaling.Â
You do not need to be artistic to start a junk journal. In fact, believing you aren’t artistic is often a sign that junk journaling may be exactly what you need.
There is literally no wrong way to do this.
No one is grading your pages. No one needs to see them. The value isn’t in the outcome; it’s in the process of choosing, placing, tearing, layering, and responding to how you feel in the moment.
Creativity and play aren’t talents. They’re a process.Â
How to Get Started
There is no need to overthink this.Â
You don’t need supplies. You don’t need a plan. You don’t need an aesthetic.
To start:
- Find something to write or stick things into. An old notebook will work just fine.Â
- Collect scraps from daily life. Receipts, business cards, junk mail, food wrappers.
- Use glue or tape, whatever you have, to make it stick.Â
- Sit down and respond to how you feel, not how you think it should look.
- Stop when you want to.
That’s it.
If a page stays unfinished, then that’s how it stays. If a page makes no sense, that’s allowed, too.
While the trend is all over Pinterest and Instagram, there is no need to compare what you’ve done to others. The only reason I would encourage you to seek out those who are sharing their work online is to be inspired to bring down any barriers, limitations, or rules in your head about what is allowedÂ
Healing Isn’t Tidy
either is self-expression.Â
Junk journals remind us that healing isn’t clean or aesthetically pleasing, and that’s perfectly ok.Â
They give space for memories and mess, joy and grief, creativity and quiet. They invite art for healing without pressure, and healing by journaling without rules.
Sometimes, that’s exactly what our nervous system needs. So go make a mess and have fun doing it.
FAQs
Q: Can junk journaling help with emotional healing?
Yes. Research shows that creative expression supports emotional processing, stress reduction, and self-regulation.
Q: Do I need special supplies to start a junk journal?
No. Everyday materials are enough. Scraps, paper, glue, and curiosity.
Q: Is junk journaling the same as art therapy?
No, but it shares overlapping benefits. Junk journaling is a self-guided creative practice, not a clinical therapy.Â
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Nadine Brown
As a survivor of emotional and physical abuse, I know firsthand how difficult the healing journey can be. I created The Resilient Blueprint as a passion project—an accessible resource hub designed to empower others on their path to recovery. My goal is to provide survivors with the knowledge, tools, and support they need to reclaim their lives.
