My biggest takeaway from the lecture is to understand how the visual journaling is able to serve as a measure of retaining mental health. As professor Birky said it is able to stimulate our brains, especially at the time everyone is trapped in home and our brains is pyscologically crhnically beginning to slow down. I really got resonate with this idea when I literally stay all days by myself, drowning lonely in the darkness as I am both spacially and timely being isolated from the others due to the COVID and the time difference. I think my physical as well as mental health has been impacted at certain level as I hardly get chance speaks to anyone in this circumstances.
Fortunately, visual journaling seems to have the effect to somehow alleviate this condition, as professor Travers said, when you indulged into depicting every detail and nuance of your life to document and capture some special things, you are able to receive certain level of satisfaction and sense of achievement by integrating your instant feelings and special interpretation of that moment into your drawings.
By drawing the desk that I took zoom class every mid-night, emphaziing the darkness and the lonelyness of the dim lamp light, I found myself somehow enjoying this process and really attracted to the magic of drawing my personal life. I have never been a big fan to document my livings in any forms, but I do agree, it is a fantastic way to express oneself and get rid of the boredness and the deadly quiteness at midnight.
Gorgeous drawing and thoughtful commentary!