THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a world where sharing often boils down to a caption or status update, finding someone who truly listens to your happiness, fears, or doubts feels rarer than ever. Real friendships are harder to form, and people seem increasingly guarded. Perhaps that’s why journaling has found new life.
Of course, we’ve all had those classic ‘Dear Diary’ days — a little scribble here, a secret there. But journaling today is more expressive, more intimate. It’s no longer just about writing down thoughts. It’s about tucking in a dried flower a friend gave you, pasting that first solo bus ticket, or keeping a chocolate wrapper that meant something.
To explore this creative, open-ended form of journaling, a three-hour mindful workshop is being introduced in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time on June 29. It will be led by Meera Nazer, a lawyer, economist, and one of the pioneers of journaling workshops in cities like Kochi, Kozhikode, and Bangalore.
“I used to journal as a child, in a playful way,” Meera shares. “You know how, around New Year, we get leftover diaries of our parents? I’d scribble in them without any pattern.”
The workshops took shape much later, in 2023, during her breast cancer journey. “When I was diagnosed, people around me started looking at me like I was fragile, like I was going to die,” she recalls. “I’ve always been loud and outspoken, and people assumed I would lose all that. I wasn’t scared, I was angry. Angry that even in 2023, with all the medical progress, people still saw cancer as a death sentence.”
While undergoing chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, she turned to her journal. “Those pages became my refuge. A place where I could be completely honest. That space kept me sane through the darkest tunnel of my life. Journaling made me realise this is a life skill. Everyone should know how to be honest with themselves.”
She also wants to bust the myth that journaling is only for people who write well or are naturally ‘artsy’. “Instagram made it seem like you need aesthetic skills. That your life has to be colourful enough to write about. But no, I want people to reclaim art. Art is not just what hangs in museums. It’s in your daily life. Everyone can make their own version of it.”
Her workshops began with a simple idea she shared with Thudippu Dance Foundation in Kochi. “They told me, ‘Just give it a shot.’ So I did.” Since then, she’s conducted 11 workshops across Kochi, Kozhikode, and Bangalore. Now, Thiruvananthapuram is on the list — on June 29, from 3pm to 6pm at The Reading Room.
“People can doodle, draw, paint, paste, gossip, and express themselves without filters, in any form they like,” says Meera.
What makes these workshops special, she says, is the presence of homemakers. “They come up to me and say, ‘I don’t know anything about journaling.’ And I tell them, that’s why I’m here. This isn’t your typical mental health workshop. I call it an ‘informed gossip session,’” she smiles. “People say this is a space where they can decorate their emotions.” The event is open to anyone aged 15 and above.
In addition, Meera is bringing another initiative to the capital city: The Feminist Reading Circle on June 28, also at The Reading Room.