One thing that's very important for me is that the journal be a place where you abandon any sense of judgment.

It can be sentence fragments. It can be lists. It can be doodles. There's no right or wrong way to do it.

I rarely go back and read my journals because I

don't want to ignite that pilot light of self-consciousness. It's really a place where you come as you

are. I'm Christine Cyr Clissette. I'm Kyra Blackwell. I'm Rosie Garan, and you're listening to The Wirecutter Show.

Hey, everybody, it's Rosie. It's almost the new year. We're counting down to 2026. And I usually

find myself at the end of the year in a bit of a reflective mood, thinking back on what I

accomplished, what I didn't manage to get done, habits I'd like to pick up in the next year,

things I would like to leave behind. Earlier this year, we recorded a conversation with the author

of The Book of Alchemy. Her name is Suleka Juad. It's a wonderful conversation full of

inspirational stories and practical advice about how to nurture your own creativity and how

journaling specifically can support you in doing that. We thought it would be a great episode to

share with you again right now. We hope you enjoy it and happy new year. Hi guys. Hi there. So we're doing something a little different. Yeah, I mean, you know, I've worked here a long time and we have a lot of coverage on the site that is really supportive of a creative practice, right? So we have reviews for musical instruments, for things that can help you become a better cook, art supplies. You obviously

don't need to buy gear or new things to be creative. Anyone can be creative, watch kids. They'll play

around with sticks out in the mud and they're very creative. But I do think that if you are

approaching a creative practice and you really get into it, having the right tools can, it's the right tool for the right job, right? So I think there are some real benefits to

having that. So whether you find joy in making elaborate meals or working on a novel,

playing music, we're going to talk about strategy for unlocking creativity today. And our guest is

Suleka Jouad. She's an artist, she's a journalist, she's an author, she writes the substack

called The Isolation Journals, and her most recent book is called The Book of Alchemy. And it explores

how journaling can help unlock your creative potential. This

is going to be a really, really special conversation. Oh, yeah. And if you're a New York Times reader,

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