A few weeks ago I was in a mad rush to catch a train and flew off without something very precious – one of my notebooks. At first I wasn’t sure where I’d left it, and blisters quickly formed on my thumbs as I dashed out a blizzard of texts, SMS, and emails to everyone I’d seen in the 24 hours prior. Luckily, I’d left it in an obvious place with people I could trust to mail it back. We (the notebook and I) were reunited just a few days later, and it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Even though it’s one of my newest, I’d already written sufficiently in it to make it one of my dearest.
The existence of this blog should serve evidence enough of my belief in the power of journaling. Someone scoffed at me for writing in a paper journal, giving me their ten reasons why it was the worst method for recording anything. I waved them off because I do in fact use Keep and ColorNote for most of my notes and checklists, and I appreciate the level of convenience and eco-friendliness they offer. What I don’t get from them is the same sort of creative energy and under-the-radar and off-the-gridness that my notebooks emanate every time I crack ’em open to write. The thing is, my notebooks are where I flesh out my random thoughts into real ideas, ones I can take to something like this thing next month. They’re where I write codes and mnemonics for a million different things I may or may not revisit. I write snippets of stories, lyrics, and the f-word.
In fact, I write so much in my notebooks, I constantly circle back to whether I should keep WIWTS live or focus solely on the writing I do elsewhere. And then I remind myself of the importance of having multiple outlets for developing ideas and really, developing as a human(e) person. Essentially, I live a double life. I don’t mean in a trifling sort of way. I’m talking more of the expat-consultant-strategizer-writer-entrepreneur-mummy multichotomy that keeps both sides of my brain firing at all times. So, rather than trying to tame the beast of mind-wandering, keeping my notebooks, apps, and the blog allow me to capture creative gold and manage all my personalities. Hopefully the next time someone laughs at my (organized) chaos of journals, I’ll have some ink to prove it’s all worth it.
Back to work.