Silk + Sonder is a monthly planner subscription that makes planning, reflecting, and achieving easy and fun by delivering a new pen-to-paper experience every month. Each planner features new layouts that are "inspired by positive psychology, bullet journaling, and self-help books." For an annual plan, the cost is $15.75/month. There are also quarterly and monthly plans available.
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Silk + Sonder August 2024
Time flies when you're having fun, and boy is this summer going by quickly! After spending an entire school year waiting for summer vacay, we are already counting down the last few weeks and my heart aches. While I love fall, I just can't get enough of these sunny, family-filled days, and just want to pause time for an extra minute. While I hoped this summer would be full of rest and relaxation, it has actually been busier than ever, and without Silk + Sonder I'd be lost. Silk + Sonder contains my life, and has become a necessity in my everyday schedule!
While Silk + Sonder is a journal, it is also a planner, stress reliever, focus improver, mood booster, and productivity increaser! Centering around a new theme each month, this book has it all, and aligns with my needs perfectly. With 60 pages of amazingness, I look forward to opening this journal each day, and have found it to help keep my anxiety under control.
Freedom: The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
I definitely resonated with Meha's introductory letter this month when it comes to freedom. With June and July so full, I want August to be the month of last chances with no structure, no routine, and no limits. Will that happen? I doubt it - but it sounds lovely! I love that I can focus on this theme and feeling throughout the entire month and try to be a bit more intentional about it. Now let's dive in to this month's journal!
One of my favorite aspects of Silk + Sonder is receiving a new planner each month. Starting "fresh" has been really helpful, as yearly planners make me feel overwhelmed. While this does feature an entire year calendar, it is too small to start filling, but big enough to reference for the future. To start my month, I fill in my calendar with dates I already know, and watch the month fly by! (Good-bye baseball, hello swimming!) Staying organized is a huge help in managing my anxiety, and being able to quickly reference this calendar at the front of this planner is exactly what I need.
On page 6, we open up to a "Future Log." This includes two small calendars for the upcoming months. With just enough space to write small notes, I tend to use this for the big things we have planned, but keep it pretty open. I did add a small "school starts" memo on the 3rd, even though it literally almost killed me! On the opposite side, you find some graph paper for notes, lists, or anything your heart desires.
Page 8 offers a space to reflect on the previous month. With an area to write down your wins, challenges, and favorite moments, this is a great way to learn what works and what doesn't. This page is one of my favorites, as it shows all of the month's accomplishments. It also features an area to write things down that you want to start, stop, and continue. July was an exciting and busy month and included lots of fun. With this there were some challenges, but baseball, weddings, and butterfly hatchings made it all worth it!
I love the inclusion of the monthly intentions page. Here, you set intentions for yourself, and re-read them throughout the month. With six categories and six boxes to complete, there is plenty of room to jot things down. This isn't necessarily a to-do list, but a place to get yourself off to a good start and remind you of things that you would like to work on. August is my last chance to really focus on my at-home time. While the boys are getting bigger and more involved with activities, the summer off definitely helps, and I need to utilize it a little better. Let's light that fire!!
As I have mentioned above, this is more than just a planner, and these trackers are proof of that. Page 10 and 11 offer a mood tracker and habit tracker. We are given space to fill in what our typical moods are, and fill it out throughout the month. This is great for tracking patterns, especially for me and my anxiety. I love the fact that these are customizable to track exactly how you want in such a pretty way! Silk + Sonder typically ships a week and a half before the next months starts, so I haven't started tracking August yet, but fill up these entire sections by the end of the month. I find this to be a great way to hold myself accountable, and while I keep some of my goals the same, tend to switch things up to keep it exciting. With a 5K coming up, I definitely need to practice running!
Page 12 offers another tracker, this one being for sleep. I have no trouble in this department, so I usually skip it. The opposing page, however, is another one of my favorites. Page 13 offers a Gratitude Log that has 31 spaces to fill. It's amazing how many things we have to be grateful for each and everyday! Looking back on this throughout the month is a reminder for those extra hard times, when it's difficult to keep a positive mindset.
Because this month's theme was "Freedom," we received three thoughtful prompts regarding this topic and how it resonates with us. The prompts this month were thoughtful, and wanted us to bring feelings to light in regards to what freedom invokes in us. Page 15 offered another set of prompts, offering internal advice to feel more free. Funny how if we dig deep, we can answer all of our own questions isn't it?!
The next activity was new! "Boundary Setting" included 9 empty circles featuring space to make a list of the things you could say "no" to that would allow you to feel more free. Was this page made for me or what?! I have an extremely hard time saying no, and though I've gotten better with it over the years, still need more practice. Here I've listed a few things, and actually followed through with one today! It led to someone hanging up the phone on me, but hey, I said no to negativity!!! To pep one up after creating boundaries, page 17 features a beautiful poem by Maya Angelou. This poem titled "Caged Bird" depicts the differences in a free bird and caged bird. Pretty eye opening if you ask me!
Page 18 and 19 offer two more fun activities: an adult coloring page, and a "Noticing Nature Game" page. I love the adult coloring page, and started coloring it with my new colored pencils, and they worked great! It was oh so soothing!! The nature game was fun too - I spend a lot of time in the trees, so it was easy, and actually more relaxing than I expected.
Every Silk + Sonder journal comes with a recipe, and though I typically don't try them, do appreciate the thought. This month's "Lemon Cream Chia Pudding" looked tasty, but I had none of the ingredients handy. Has anyone given this recipe a go yet? How did they turn out?
On the opposing page, we received an "Affirmation Plants" prompt. This activity features 9 succulent type plants with enough space to write down an affirmation in each pot that makes you feel full and free. An easy way to remind yourself how wonderful you are when things are hard, plus more space to color!
Blank sheets are always helpful and a great place to do some long division, write notes, and jot down addresses!
Each month we are given some sort of mind puzzle, and this month it was a word search. With 15 words to find, I started this month strong, but set it aside for another coffee session. This paired with the riddle helps my morning kick off to a good start. The opposite side features an expense tracker, and while lovely, because I utilize a Google doc, don't fill this out. Is that bad? No! Use this journal how you see fit!
While all of the activities are really useful, helpful, and great, I tend to put most of my time into these calendar pages. With sections for meal plans, to-dos, habits and activities, shopping lists, and specific day sections, I write everything here. It keeps me on schedule for each day and feeling accomplished, and there is NOTHING more satisfying than crossing out an item on my list.
Tidying up with one last quote, the dictionary definition of "Sonder", and the back cover, that's all there is to it. I have come to find that a key part of my day is when I sit and fill out my planner with my cup of coffee, and during summer vacation I take it all in! This quiet time happens before the kids are awake, and I can snuggle Scout and Buxton all to myself! Even on summer vacay, it is important to me to keep a consistent schedule for managing my anxiety and creating much more positive life.
The Verdict
As we head into August, our schedule is nuts, which stresses me out a bit. Because I need to stay organized, Silk + Sonder has become a necessity, and without it, I'd definitely be lost. This month's planner was designed beautifully, and I loved the "Freedom" theme and how to incorporate more of that mindset this month. I continue to be impressed with this subscription, and can't wait to see what's in store for September.
I typically tend to allocate about 15-20 minutes a day to this journal and flip from front to back reflecting, adding to, and processing what I have previously written. By the end of the month, my brain feels much more organized and stable. The beauty of this planner is remarkable, and the packable size means I can tote it around in my purse. Being extremely impressed with all aspects, I am really looking forward to discovering more about myself, all while staying organized and offering myself a little daily quiet time and important self-care.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Your subscription will start with September as your first month but there is an option to add on August for 50% off at $10.99. A note from Silk + Sonder on shipping:
You can expect your SILK + SONDER issue to arrive 2-5 days before the 1st of every month.
Check out our list of the best women's subscription boxes for 2024 to see which boxes were recommended by MSA readers like you!
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