‘Origami of Becoming’ is a doodle journal that invites you to be curious and explore stories about you and your wonderfulness. 

We are born into stories. Since time immemorial and the days around the campfire, we have been telling stories. Some stories we carry with us about who we are and what is important for us and we build connections by re-telling these stories. This journal is a canvas for documenting these life stories. It offers you a space to jot down or doodle those small things that get you happy, content, and joyful. And yes, it may be from any story of your life or something that you saw or felt. It can be as vivid as reliving a childhood memory, rewinding your favourite playlist, scrawling words that you hold close or even illustrating secret maps to your hidden wafer packets.

Just as the origami paper-folds, a new conversation that we engage in, shapes our life’s journey and opens up a new direction of thought. This journey of ‘becoming’ is magical. This is the idea behind the title of ‘Origami of Becoming’.

This journal space hopes to be a witness to our life experiences via doodles, scribbles, ideas & more. The intention behind the diverse guided prompts in this journal is to direct us to our happy, comfortable and safe spaces, on the not-so-good days. Sometimes we turn to our personal care team of friends, family, pet, neighbours or colleagues. At other times, we recruit our own skills and know-how on addressing the thoughts we have. ‘Origami of Becoming’ hopes to be a companion on all such occasions.

Origami of Becoming’ is created by Bimba Chavan and illustrated by Mita Chavan. This doodle journal has been inspired and influenced by the ideas of Narrative practices. One of the key ideas is that people are an archive of knowledge. You and I are one of these people. So here we have an opportunity to engage with ourselves and make our story more visible. 

So take out the time to wander. The pages of this journal are waiting to witness your dreams, hopes, experiences and more. Open this journal whenever you may have a story to tell.

A zine-version of Origami of Becoming is available as a free resource here. 

The journal is available for sale. Please connect with bimbasmail@gmail.com to grab a copy.

About the author

Bimba is a counsellor, curriculum designer and a facilitator innovating mental wellbeing conversations in the school system of Mumbai for over 8 years. She operates from a space of joy, accountability and care. She has been a participant of Ummeed Mental Health Training Program 2018. Towards, the end of this year-long program, the idea of a Narrative inspired doodle journal came alive in the “magical green room”.Creativity acts as her anchor in all her interactions. Narrative ideas inform her work practices in the scope of designing a preventive mental health program with Apni Shala Foundation in the capacity of a curriculum consultant. She currently resides in Melbourne and works as a high school counsellor and a workshop facilitator recruiting a wider audience in the mental health context.