What is Cojournal? It’s a place for people to meet up to three others to write, to write together, and to have a small monthly meetup to talk through the things that are coming up. We use Telegram, mostly, these days, and also the occasional email, Zoom, or LINE conversation happens, too.
This year I’ve been making more spaces for people to meet each other, thanks to the focus for me that I set up for 2025 as the Year of Composition… it turns out what really works well is what used to happen in 2014, with the project I started then and ran for about 24 months called ‘Cojournal.’
Why make time? Why make space?
In this we conversed over email (exclusively, as that’s waht we had then), and talked, talked together, and talked together over time to get to know more about each other’s writings, our personal goals for writing, and our own ways to think about it.
This is really in line with what the Artist & Writers Residencies I’ve personally attended as a participant in recent years also seem to be aiming to do: giving us. time and space to reflect, reapproach our own practice, and perhaps to reaffirm our commitments to making something new and different and creative and personally interesting to us. This may be why you’ve been seeing less of me at design Kompany because here, it’s client-oriented. Which is great. And which is why I’m going to now share about one track of Cojournal I will run through DK.
Introducing ‘Cojournal – Solopreneurship & Co-Storm ‘
Make time to talk about challenges and ‘Co-storm’ together to get to new ideas. We’ll talk on weekly calls while also working together through writing prompts and sharing (optional) in virtual spaces that work well for each small circle. It’s going to start and end on the beginning and end of the next month. Then, we’ll see if we want to continue. Cojournal – Solopreneurship & Co-Storm starts at USD 150/mo. No fee to apply. The application form is below.
I like this post by Jessica Todd about ‘DIY Artist Residencies,’ in which she outlines some reasons why a self-styled residency can be helpful for people who want to take a little time away from their everyday routines to think out new things.
She writes:
. MAKE TIME. ‘Carve out the time. It can be a challenge to make room in your schedule without an external obligation, but if you were offered the residency opportunity of a lifetime, would you make time for it? Of course you would… a DIY Residency is… extremely flexible. It could be a long weekend, a series of consecutive weekends, or a bigger chunk of time from a week to a month, or longer!… Cojournal will be a monthly experience – you can opt to continue, or not.
. MEET NEW PEOPLE. ‘Interaction with fellow residents is often an impactful component of a residency.’ Cojournal will do this because I always do this – gather people and encourage you to connect, engage, and interact. I’ve been doing this for so long now it’s second nature, and also, it’s super fun to see what emerges when people who don’t know each other discover things about themselves in remarkable ways. We will do this in virtual space and meet in person, if in the same city. It ties in with our Phnom Penh Graphic Design Residency, too.
. PROGRAM IT. ‘Challenge artist friends or colleagues to do their own DIY Residency concurrently with you. Set up meeting times throughout—in person or virtual—to discuss your research and progress. If you desire less interaction, something as simple as a one-on-one critique with a colleague can provide reflection and feedback.’ I’ll be here to make this happen.
. USE THE CANVAS OF THE CITY. ‘Many artists find inspiration in the physical location of their residency. If you do, plan trips to local museums, libraries, cultural centers, neighborhoods, or nature parks to conduct research… If you’re staying home, take time to notice your neighborhood and surroundings with fresh eyes—walk, talk, sketch, collect, and think as if you’re there for the first time. If traveling, have a list of places you may want to check out.’ Definitely we are going to hit some favorite spots in Phnom Penh for quieting and finding the moment to ‘co-strom.’ Below are a few pictures from this year’s meets.
Let’s try it. We can get going with it, in the DIY style of residency, but virtually, with the focus on the theme: Cojournal – Solopreneurship & Co-Storm.
‘Do you have other Cojournal Tracks?’
Yes. More journaling. Well into the year and doing some new shufflings, in the weekly writing prompt and conversation-inspired set of things that I host, at Cojournal.