If you’re reading this, it’s safe to say that you’re probably a big fan of cannabis. And the reasons you love it are likely similar to the reasons it’s handy to keep a cannabis journal. Cannabis is complicated and varied, offering a diverse range of experiences and potential activities. Keeping track of aspects of your use makes it easier to have the kind of experience that you’re after.
Reasons to Keep a Cannabis Journal
There are plenty of reasons to take pen to paper. Here are a few to get you started:
- Keep Track of Great Strains and Products: When you have a canna-experience that you want to repeat, it’s really helpful to note what was involved. While there are several factors at play, the cannabis strain and/or product you used is certainly a big one.
- Remember Strains and Products You Don’t Love: Of course, the other side of the coin is making sure not to repeat experiences that you didn’t enjoy. That way-too-much sativa that left you frazzled – she’s outta there.
- Make Excellent Stoney Plans: Being able to reflect on what you enjoyed doing last time you had a strain or product will help you to make plans accordingly. That time the just-right sativa met a hiking trail – happening again, stat!
- Create Awareness Around Your Cannabis Use: Intentionally creating awareness around your cannabis use is a great wellness move. It’s a powerful plant and documenting its effects for clarity helps take advantage of that fact.
- Make It Special: It’s also a plant that’s been used for millennia in sacred practices around the world. Keeping a journal is a great way to honor your engagement with cannabis.
- Medical Reasons: When you employ cannabis as your medicine, keeping track of factors is crucial to doing so optimally. When you have a flare of symptoms, it’s handy to be able to look back and see what helped (or didn’t) last time.
- Canna-Tourism: Recalling previous cannabis-related purchases can already be…hazy, as it is, but throw in a whole new place and the excitement of traveling, and most of us will be at a loss when trying to give recommendations weeks later.
- Compare Strain Variations: For those of you who are loyal to certain strains, you know that they can vary from brand-to-brand or even batch-to-batch. Remember who’s got buds that are most true to phenotype.
How to Keep a Wildly Helpful Journal
Ready to get started? Consider the following:
- Choose Your Notebook: The big question here is, “digital or analog?” Choose what’s most convenient for you, are you more likely to grab a notebook or use an app? Which is more appealing to you? Does it need to be discreet?
- Write Down Whatever’s Useful to You: Note things that you care about and will want to remember. Some ideas – flavor, how you felt, what you did, best features, worst features, dispensary purchased at, how much you had, how long products took to kick in, and state of mind before/after.
- Don’t Forget Health Aspects: Cannabis is often medically helpful for even recreational users. Noting things like a headache vanishing, or aspects like what you ate/drank before and after are very helpful when tracking issues. Other health factors – sleep, exercise, therapy, hormone cycles, medications, essential oils, etc.
- Use Ratings: Find an indica that’s a 10 on pain relief but a real 0 for motivation? Note it for next time you need a lazy couch recuperation night.
- Make It Personal and Fun: This is just for you, so include random stuff that future you will enjoy. If you’re a real munchie aficionado, note what you noshed. If you enjoy creativity, leave space for a drawing or sum up the experience in one perfect word.
- Be Consistent: Record whatever you like, but it’s handy to do the same thing every time so you can spot patterns and reliably go back and check for information.
When journaling, be sure to remember that it’s a fun project just for you. When we decide to cultivate a new positive habit, it’s common for it to feel like a burden or a task. You’re engaging in an act of wellness, and it’ll be more effective if you enjoy it! And, of course, be sure to swing by Greenside Rec if you need a canna-purchase that’s worth noting and remembering.
