Notebook (Mostly an Instagram Repost)
I posted a shorter version of these thoughts on Instagram a couple of weeks ago and meant to post here, too, because I do like notebooks. Like these.
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| New Notebook Season may be my favourite season of all |
Well, yes, it feels mildly ridiculous to post about notebooks when—oh, you know—all this is happening everywhere.
However, every Sunday evening I read what I wrote the previous week and I’m astounded at what happened—a forgotten horror here, a small (or even large) joy there.
These notebooks bring me, joy, however varied their contents. The notebooks are from Paperblanks, ordered through our local bookstore, Entershine Bookshop. The planner is Hemlock & Oak. All Canadian companies.
The one on the left, with robins, is a five-year notebook in which I'm recording nature observations. I got the idea to use a five-year journal from a UK writer I follow on Substack, Iain Robinson. I've been writing these observations for years, and I try to notice more than the temperature. The idea with this notebook is that as it fills, Future Marion will find it easier to look at trends across years.
I've noticed the value of the "memories" feature on Facebook for this same purpose. It can be humbling and illuminating to go online with a "new snow! I'm tired of it! This winter is the worst!" photo to post, only to see previous years' snowfall/tired of winter photos. This paper version doesn't have photos but also isn't electronic, so I don't have to be online, which is better for my mental and emotional health. And robins! We'll see those again sometime.
The ornate notebook to the right is daily thoughts and feelings and whatever. I read the previous week's entries on Sunday nights and the whole month's notes at the end of the month. I even read through 2025 as I readied for 2026. It's interesting (sobering, even) how small my of-the-moment aggravations seem and how quickly my "wow this is great" moments fade. Overall, it's a good reminder of all the daily competencies I've developed throughout the previous week/month/year.
In the middle is my planner, and I love it. My only regret? (Over which I have some control, that is.) I should’ve paid the extra for a hardcover daily/weekly planner from Hemlock & Oak. I wouldn’t need my folio as support. However, I love everything else about it—especially the paper, which is both thin and thick enough—and I will need another planner next year. There will be future years. I must believe it.
(I hope by then to have fewer horrors to record and remember. But this is the time I was born into, as my parents were born into theirs. They fought evil, and so can I.)