Mackenzie Bakewell Of ZieBee Media: How Journaling Helped Me Be More Calm, Mindful And Resilient
An Interview With Heidi Sander
Journals provide a personal space to capture ideas and practice the technical skills of expressing what’s on your mind. It takes focus and effort to communicate clearly and concisely on the page. As a result of this practice, you’ll become more calm and resilient as you’ll be able to better express yourself.
Journaling is a powerful tool to gain clarity and insight especially during challenging times of loss and uncertainty. Writing can cultivate a deeper connection with yourself and provide an outlet for calmness, resilience and mindfulness. When my mom passed on, I found writing to be cathartic. When I read through my journal years later, there were thoughts that I developed into poems, and others that simply provided a deeper insight into myself. In this series I’m speaking with people who use journaling to become more mindful and resilient.
As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Mackenzie Bakewell.
Mackenzie Bakewell is a multimedia artist and author, as well as the owner of ZieBee Media, an independent publishing company. She created Journey of Colors, a coloring book product line, as a tool to help people of all ages relax, get creative, and have fun making art in their everyday lives. Mackenzie is the author of Coloring is Good for You: 13 Reasons to Color Daily and the publisher of the Curious Coyote Nature Education book series. Mackenzie majored in New Media Communications and her art, photography, and designs are inspired by her lifetime of exploring nature and new places with her camera and sketchbook in hand. She has traveled to ten countries and over twenty states in the USA, and lives in the Pacific Northwest where she was born and raised.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! We really appreciate the courage it takes to publicly share your story of healing. Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your childhood backstory?
Hello and thank you!
Growing up, I lived on an idyllic 3-acre urban ranch called Wild Haven Hollow with my family and plenty of animals. My older sister and I were homeschooled by our mother, and this was a fantastic experience for all of us.
My mother is an artist, educator, and curious naturalist, so she infused her wonderful, whimsical energy into all facets of our learning. This was balanced nicely by my father’s coaching in all things sports, technology, and positive thinking. I have many fond memories of family road trips, working in the barn together, and playing with our horses until we were exhausted.
Being homeschooled allowed for a freedom-focused lifestyle where my creative passions were supported and encouraged. This combination had a big influence on my choice to start my own company early on in my professional career.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about journaling. Have you been writing in your journal for a long time or was there a challenging situation that prompted you to start journal writing? If you feel comfortable sharing the situation with us, it could help other readers.
I have been keeping a journal, in one form or another, since the age of five years old. This was a practice taught to me by my mother, who journals daily with her morning cup of tea. However, it was 7 years ago that journaling became a part of my creative well-being and self-care practice.
My life was truly wonderful, yet internally I was suffering from extreme anxiety and poor mental thought patterns. It was then that I went on a 28-day gratitude journaling journey, sparked by the book The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, which was a gift from my parents.
With the book as my guide, I would write down a list of things that I was thankful for in my journal as part of the daily exercise. Some days it would be the little things, like the sun shining brightly, and other days it would be the big things, like my healthy body and loving relationships. By the end of the 28 days, my whole outlook on life had transformed. I was calmer, happier, and more appreciative of all the good in my life.
Since this experience, I’ve continued to journal regularly as part of both my personal creative practice and my self-care habits. I’ve found that having a journal provides a tool for me to tap into when needed, and with the foundation as a focus in gratitude it has helped me use journaling to focus my mind on the good in my past memories, present situation, and future possibilities.
How did journaling help you heal, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?
Channeling my thoughts, memories, and ideas onto my journal’s pages has cultivated a pathway to my inner world. Through journaling, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of myself and I’ve developed the ability to ask my inner self questions — and then actually be still long enough to listen to the answer.
This connection, and the habit of paying attention, has helped me heal in many ways.
I love that it is a place for self-discovery, where I can express myself openly and honestly. And if my emotions are running high, I find that journaling can help me regain a sense of balance that goes far beyond the inky pages I create.
Did journaling help you find more self-compassion and gratitude? Can you share a story about that?
Expressing gratitude in my journal has made a profoundly positive impact on my life. During times of high levels of stress and worry in my life, my daily journaling practice has helped me feel more self-compassion and cope with the difficult emotions that arise.
I will often sketch scenes from my day, focusing on a single highlight. Then I’ll write a short snippet, much like an affirmation, to accompany it. I find that journaling in this way has encouraged self-compassion by turning a memory from my day into a piece of art.
Additionally, gratitude helps me to reframe my challenges and difficulties in a more positive light. When I take the time to acknowledge the good in my life, I have found that I open myself up to feeling more joy, happiness, and love.
What kind of content goes into your journal? For example, do you free-write, write poems, doodle?
My journals have become a place for creative play and visual storytelling. In the past I would primarily write records of my experiences with an occasional doodle, but when looking back on my journals I realized I most enjoyed the pages with sketches.
Now I have a more even mix of writing and drawings, often of memories, stories, and things I’d like more of in my life. I also like to mix up font styles and sizes as well as add poetry, breaking free from classic paragraph styling.
There are times when I challenge my creative ability to express myself in different ways, and other times when I simply let my thoughts and feelings flow onto the page any way that feels right in the moment. Then, there are the days when, I’ll stray away from my classic black ink pen and journal with colored pencils, markers, or other mediums. It’s really gratifying to see the creative play that emerges when I let myself go a little bit wild!
How did you gain a different perspective on life and your emotions while writing in your journal? Can you please share a story about what you mean?
For me, journaling is a place to craft my own inner script. I like to make it playful and fun, focusing on what I want to remember or reflect back on. Even when writing about pain or sorrow, I often craft my memories and emotions into freestyle poems or even fictional stories to help shed a fresh light on the situation.
Last summer I filled an entire journal with stories about a trio of adventurers who were exploring a far off land. I channeled my real feelings and memories onto the paper, portrayed through the characters and my own imaginings. In this way, I was putting words down onto paper that acknowledged how I was feeling and what I was doing, yet was crafted in a method that was both artistic and cathartic.
Whether writing in my journal in this fictional style or direct records, it is daily time for me to reflect, observe, and simply become aware of or focus on how I’m feeling. I find this helps me slow down my busy brain and gain a calmer, clearer sense of perspective on my life.
In my own journal writing, I ended up creating poems from some of the ideas and one of them won an award. Do you have plans with your journal content?
That is such a great use of journal entries, and congratulations on the award. For me, I draw a lot in my journals, from inky illustrations to concept art and loose sketches. I regularly turn these into new illustrations for my coloring book collection.
A recent series was inspired by a trip to Hawaii with my family, when I’d sketched all the critters and plants we’d spotted during our travels in my journal. This sparked the art for my “Island Time” coloring journal and postcard set, which features finished illustrations inspired by the trip.
In addition to being artwork that I enjoy coloring, I publish my illustrations as coloring books to promote the habit of having fun making art in our everyday lives.
Fantastic. Here is our main question. In my journaling program, I have found that journaling can help people to become more calm, mindful and resilient. Based on your experience and research, can you please share with our readers “five ways that journaling can help you to be more calm, mindful and resilient”?
#1: Quiet Your Mind.
The first way is that journaling can be a powerful tool for decluttering and quieting your mind, which increases calmness and inner peace. When we take the time to write down our thoughts, it can help us to process them and move on from them more easily. The act of putting your thoughts into words can raise your awareness of what you’re thinking and feeling. It invites an inquisitive focus into your own inner workings, where you can be free to observe, release, and reshape your thoughts.
I’ve found this soothes my often fast-moving mind and helps release tension I may be holding. This calmness can also extend to my physical state — after a stressful day, taking a few minutes to journal can help me relax and unwind in mind, body, and spirit.
For me, this process builds inner strength and resilience, as it enhances my ability to steady and monitor my inner dialogue throughout the day.
#2: Develop Artistic Ability.
Journals provide a personal space to capture ideas and practice the technical skills of expressing what’s on your mind. It takes focus and effort to communicate clearly and concisely on the page. As a result of this practice, you’ll become more calm and resilient as you’ll be able to better express yourself.
When journaling for creative practice, I like to pause throughout my day to stop, look, and listen.
This way when I sit down to journal, my mind is primed with imagery and ideas for things to write and illustrate. Plus, these little times of stillness where I’m being mindful of my surroundings are incredibly calming. It also helps me stay present to the inspiration and beauty that surrounds me.
#3: Write to Remember.
The act of journaling is a way to process the events of the day and make sense of your feelings. It is a place to take note of the most important pieces of your life, and also to hold space for actually remembering to remember.
In our fast-paced, highly digital world, it can be easy to get into a buzzing speed of thought that is always on the go.
By pausing to slow down, sit down, and write something down, you’re choosing to take a moment to be still. In this stillness, it is easier to reconnect with that inner calm that is always there for us. In writing down the things you want to remember, it also trains your brain to be more mindful of your own memories. Sometimes our days are filled with joy, and in our journal we can capture that energy to tap into later. Other times, life is filled with hardship, and in our journal we can pour that pain so that it can lighten our energy and provide teachings in the future.
In all cases, our journal is a tool to help us choose what we want to remember about our lives. And, if you’re like me, to focus those saved memories on the good things.
#4: Expand Comfort Zones.
Journaling is a great way to stretch your comfort zones because it allows you to experiment with new thoughts, feelings, and possibilities in a safe place. When you journal, you’re essentially taking on the role of both observer and participant. This gives you the opportunity to test out new ideas and see how they feel without having to worry about judgment.
If something feels outside of your comfort zone, you can simply pause writing or shift your focus. But if you find that you enjoy exploring your imagination in this new way, then you can keep writing, allowing the thoughts to flow onto your page.
I’ve found this is particularly effective for personal growth, as I use my journal to get to know myself better, and in the process find areas I’d like to cultivate or change. By expanding my comfort zone in my imagination, I’m able to stay calmer in situations that might normally make me nervous. I’m also more mindful of my thoughts and feel more at ease throughout my day.
#5: Practice Storytelling.
Whether it is poetry, fiction, or your own life’s tales, a journal is a place to capture and create stories of your own. There’s nothing more magical than a good story. Whether it’s a sweeping epic or a short personal tale, stories have a way of transporting us to other worlds and giving us new perspectives.
I’ve found that crafting stories in my journal makes me more mindful of the words I use throughout my day, of how I see my life, and what I pay attention to. I use it to practice new words I’m learning and how to articulate complex concepts simply.
I’ve found it increases my mental flexibility and connection to my inner voice too.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of peace to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?
That is a great question, and I’d have to say it would be “Coloring Postcard Pen Pals.”
This would be a movement to inspire people to pick up coloring as a tool to relax, get creative, and have fun. Specifically, it would focus on using coloring postcards that you send to pen pals around the world.
This has a benefit that is twofold — the first is that you take time to sit and make art, which has many known benefits for health and happiness. Then, you’re also sending a note to another person, which is bound to brighten their day.
It seems so simple, and I think that’s the beauty of it.
I know in my own life, I’ve been surprised that when I combine these two simple childhood pastimes I actually generate a lot of joy for myself and others while also creating a great sense of inner peace.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)
I’d love to meet Donavon Frankenreiter, who is my all-time favorite musician. I’m currently learning how to play the guitar and would love to chat with him about music, song writing, and creative expression through one’s art.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can check out the coloring books, journals, and postcards that I make at www.JourneyofColors.com and learn more about my professional work at www.ZieBee.com as well as follow my company on Instagram @ZieBeeMedia.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued fulfillment and success with your writing!
