Junk journaling, a hobby in which you gather everyday items that are usually thrown away to create art, is an excellent way to express your inner self and keep track of your life. There are tons of benefits: You get to feel like you’re reliving your day, it can help with memory and encourage you to express your creative side without having a “due date.” It also releases stress and anxiety, gives you a sense of accomplishment and reduces your screentime.

It’s an activity that I think everyone should participate in.

Junk journaling is an aspect of general journaling. There are many types of journaling, though junk journaling is the only type that mainly emphasizes creating art through gathered trash from events or hangouts. Fair warning: It can get messy at some points, since finding your inner self isn’t always an organized process.

The best part of junk journaling is that all you have to do is stick your gathered junk to your journal book. However, you can also get more creative by adding writing, stickers and composition that shows what your mood of the day was. Additionally, you have the power to decide when to junk journal, whether it’s every day, once a week or once a month.

Junk journaling gets 9 out of 10 stars from me because the experience of junk journaling is very flexible, expressive and completely free. I took away one point because junk journaling can get a bit dirty, which isn’t everyone’s ideal situation.