I have always had a notebook going, I just write notes in it. Quotes, phone numbers, lists, thoughts, ideas. The hodgepodge of my days. I also have an entire shelf of blank ones that I have picked up, so that I will never run out. They are not in exact order but I do date the top of every page. And I put my name and phone number in the front in case I lay it down somewhere. 😁
I have Travelers Notebooks, Field Notes and Moleskinnes, plus a few others. Currently using Paperblanks as I wanted more color. Right now, I just journal and carry a notebook for things like grocery lists.
What I love here is that notebooks preserve something digital tools often erase: the visible process of becoming clear.
The crossed-out sentence, the unfinished thought, the idea that changes direction halfway down the page—none of it looks efficient, but it reveals how thinking actually develops. A notebook does not only store the final idea. It keeps the path that made the idea possible.
I keep a notebook and try to journal once a week for about half an hour. I write everything in it, from random thoughts to what I’m reading. Do you have any recommendations for where to find beautiful notebooks? I like Rifle Paper Co. and Papier, but I’m always looking for new favorites.
The grandmother's drawer is the detail that stays with me. It suggests the notebook habit was never really about the writing. She gave herself permission to want beautiful things for no reason, and you inherited that along with the notebooks.
Oh, I just loved reading this. I’ve kept notebooks for as long as I can remember. 💖 For a number of years I’ve used a daily Notebook that includes a journal of the “ongoing now” in my life and in the world - just simple spiral notebooks,nothing too fancy or intimidating. I also use a Paper Republic journal system for all things books and reading.
I recently found about a dozen of my old journals. Each with unique covers, each representing a different chapter in my life. I love the glide of a pen across notebook paper 🙏
I always have a journal on the go. The notebooks I have used through my life have ranged from beautiful hard-backed silk or embossed covered ones, to the low-cost, soft-backed, thin-paged variety.
While I love beautiful notebooks, what is most important for me is what I write inside them. My journal is the place where I write everything - day to day check-ins and emotional splurges; poems, prose and songs; brainstorming for creative projects; notes from courses I'm participating in. It is simpler for me to keep all my writing in one place.
Thank you for your reflections in the joys of notebooks. It plucked my heartstrings to read your words!
Oh, I just loved this piece. Journaling (and buying notebooks) is one of my secret pleasures. I have been doing it in one form or another since my childhood. My mother kept some of my early journals, and they made me cringe when I read them 20 years later, but they also reminded me about my humble beginnings - as a person and as a writer. I have a collection of notebooks from the last 20 years, and I noticed that my preferences for size and style have changed. I tried using my phone and various apps for a while for journaling, but eventually got back to writing by hand on paper. I used to love the subtle pale colour of the pencil writing; however, these days I really enjoy the easy, elegant sliding of the gel pens - the way the pen moves is like a dance; it feels almost like choreography, not so much like writing. Thank you for the permission. I really needed this reminder that I deserve to indulge my secret pleasure now and then. And to keep writing. I have the feeling that after years of moving through different styles of journaling, I will be returning to the 'hodgepodge' of the commonplace book - there is something irresistible in the chaos and discovery it collects.
I have always had a notebook going, I just write notes in it. Quotes, phone numbers, lists, thoughts, ideas. The hodgepodge of my days. I also have an entire shelf of blank ones that I have picked up, so that I will never run out. They are not in exact order but I do date the top of every page. And I put my name and phone number in the front in case I lay it down somewhere. 😁
I have Travelers Notebooks, Field Notes and Moleskinnes, plus a few others. Currently using Paperblanks as I wanted more color. Right now, I just journal and carry a notebook for things like grocery lists.
What I love here is that notebooks preserve something digital tools often erase: the visible process of becoming clear.
The crossed-out sentence, the unfinished thought, the idea that changes direction halfway down the page—none of it looks efficient, but it reveals how thinking actually develops. A notebook does not only store the final idea. It keeps the path that made the idea possible.
I keep a notebook and try to journal once a week for about half an hour. I write everything in it, from random thoughts to what I’m reading. Do you have any recommendations for where to find beautiful notebooks? I like Rifle Paper Co. and Papier, but I’m always looking for new favorites.
I saw this as I returned from town and my favourite bookshop earlier, new notebooks secured 😎
The grandmother's drawer is the detail that stays with me. It suggests the notebook habit was never really about the writing. She gave herself permission to want beautiful things for no reason, and you inherited that along with the notebooks.
Oh, I just loved reading this. I’ve kept notebooks for as long as I can remember. 💖 For a number of years I’ve used a daily Notebook that includes a journal of the “ongoing now” in my life and in the world - just simple spiral notebooks,nothing too fancy or intimidating. I also use a Paper Republic journal system for all things books and reading.
Oh say more about the books and reading journal please!
I recently found about a dozen of my old journals. Each with unique covers, each representing a different chapter in my life. I love the glide of a pen across notebook paper 🙏
I always have a journal on the go. The notebooks I have used through my life have ranged from beautiful hard-backed silk or embossed covered ones, to the low-cost, soft-backed, thin-paged variety.
While I love beautiful notebooks, what is most important for me is what I write inside them. My journal is the place where I write everything - day to day check-ins and emotional splurges; poems, prose and songs; brainstorming for creative projects; notes from courses I'm participating in. It is simpler for me to keep all my writing in one place.
Thank you for your reflections in the joys of notebooks. It plucked my heartstrings to read your words!
Oh, I just loved this piece. Journaling (and buying notebooks) is one of my secret pleasures. I have been doing it in one form or another since my childhood. My mother kept some of my early journals, and they made me cringe when I read them 20 years later, but they also reminded me about my humble beginnings - as a person and as a writer. I have a collection of notebooks from the last 20 years, and I noticed that my preferences for size and style have changed. I tried using my phone and various apps for a while for journaling, but eventually got back to writing by hand on paper. I used to love the subtle pale colour of the pencil writing; however, these days I really enjoy the easy, elegant sliding of the gel pens - the way the pen moves is like a dance; it feels almost like choreography, not so much like writing. Thank you for the permission. I really needed this reminder that I deserve to indulge my secret pleasure now and then. And to keep writing. I have the feeling that after years of moving through different styles of journaling, I will be returning to the 'hodgepodge' of the commonplace book - there is something irresistible in the chaos and discovery it collects.