How Notebooks Taught Me A Huge Life Lesson

What is it about notebooks, pens, and basically anything deemed “school supplies” that’s so appealing? Am I the only person who has a slight obsession with these items? I’ll be giving away my age here, but I’m wondering if it began during the Trapper Keeper years. If you remember those days, you just heard Velcro detaching as you visualized pulling open the top flap of your favorite organizer, didn’t you? Mine was green and white and there was something magical about it. I’m talking about the old-school plastic Trapper Keeper. While we are reminiscing about school supplies, please tell me you would put a fine layer of glue on your hands, allow it time to dry, and peel it off slowly. It was so satisfying, right? If I was the only one who did that, just play along, and reassure me it was “a legit thing”. 

Let’s not spend our time talking about glue, let’s get back to notebooks. When I think back over the timeline of my life, I’ve had certain notebooks and pens I have gravitated towards during certain seasons. In elementary and middle school, I didn’t have much choice. My mom bought my notebooks. When I was in high school and college, I got to voice my opinion. I loved a good Five Star Spiral Notebook. I typically went for the ones that were five subjects and tabbed. Fine-tip gel pens were my jam. You know, the kind where you could see how much ink was left in the cut-out window of the label on the body of the pen. Those pens were awesome.

My first “notebook change” occurred when I moved from Alabama to Illinois for school. This is when I fell in love with journaling. Oh my. I had a certain set of notebooks that were hardcover, around 6×6 in size and I ONLY used those during my two years in school. When I run across those notebooks, I know it houses good juicy details of the days when I really liked Jer, and he didn’t like me. (The nerve.) I also know it contains the stories of us beginning to date, and his proposal. Those small notebooks were only in my life for a short time. I was forced to change notebooks when we moved from Illinois, mainly, because I could only find that journal at a specific bookstore in town. That was back in the ancient days when you didn’t have the option to search and buy things online. How did we manage?  We were so deprived. 

When I moved home, I resorted back to the Five Star Notebooks. I continued to use these for a few years, because, well, they were what I “knew”. Let me be transparent. I need to fess up. I was beginning to feel some detachment from these original notebooks. They just weren’t doing it for me as they had all those years before. There was a new notebook about to enter the scene, and in the most unlikely place, a train station in London. Yep. Who would have thought? I wasn’t even looking for a new one, and there it was. 8.5×11, kraft hard cover, spiral bound, tabbed into five subjects style, AND it had a black stretchy band to go across the cover to keep it closed. Oh my. I was in love. Much to my surprise, (thank you internet), I found these were carried in the States at an office supply chain store. I’m totally not ashamed to say, I would have a good five to ten blank notebooks always stored away in my home. 

I will never forget the day I rolled up into the office supply store to get my next stockpile. They were gone. They had been discontinued. Ummmm, Houston, we have a problem. Have no fear, remember, we have the internet now. I found them online in the UK. Problem averted. I began ordering them by the case from across the pond. Listen, I’m not kidding, when I like something, I like something. This system lasted a year or two until something horrible happened one day. The box arrived. I went to pull out a notebook, and something was WAY off. The quality wasn’t the same. The cover wasn’t the correct thickness. The pages felt different. The tab dividers were not the same weight. I remember right where I was standing. This just couldn’t be. What was I going to do? These notebooks were where I housed my ideas, my dreams, and my to-do lists. How could I function without them in my life? I felt lost. (Yes, I’m dramatic.)

The search was on for a new notebook. It felt like a lifetime of searching, but thankfully I stumbled upon one in a bookstore one day. The sizing was a little different than what I had been using previously. There wasn’t a strap to keep it closed, but it was spiral bound and CUTE. Hmmm. Interesting. It was time for a good test run to see how it measured up. Surprisingly, I fell hard for this notebook, and fast. I loved how it tucked away perfectly in my purse. I loved the colorful cover and the pretty design. There was a nice flair that my kraft notebooks failed to bring to the table. The more I used the notebook, the more I felt the need to buy a couple more to have on hand. This is how I knew it was the one. It made me smile. It made me happy. I found the one that now set my soul on fire.  

You know, I believe there is a lesson to be learned about “life” with these notebooks. Over the years, my notebooks have housed deep and private thoughts, major milestones, and simple, normal, tasks to do throughout the day. Even though notebooks have changed through the years, what I’m writing inside has stayed the same at the “core”. It has revolved around my faith, my family, dreaming, planning, and taking action. Some notebooks have changed by choice. A slow disconnect began happening, and a new one enters the scene in the least expected place. Some have occurred abruptly due to circumstances outside of my control. Others have changed because the “feel” of the notebook was altered. It’s not what I originally purchased and fell in love with. It felt “off”.

While it seems silly, changing notebooks has gotten harder as I’ve gotten older. Somehow I become more attached to the notebooks. They hold more weight and importance than they did in my younger years. They become a piece of me in a way. When a new notebook arrives on the scene, it takes a second to get used to it. I even question if the change was good and needed. Same in life. Where we “house” and “write” the day in and day out of our lives, it’s hard when it changes. We question it. We may even stop “writing” because everything feels different. We must understand, what we are writing inside, the core of who we are, IT hasn’t changed. We must pick up the pen and keep writing.

I’m not sure if all this makes sense to you, but it’s been profound to me. What you are reading right now, this blog, this website, it’s figuratively speaking, a new notebook for me. It aligns with a new literal notebook coming to the scene as well. The new notebook I am currently using is smaller. It’s more vibrant. It also doesn’t have the “safety” band keeping it closed. It’s funny, but the literal notebook describes in a way how I feel about the figurative notebook in my life. This new “notebook” I’m writing in, seems smaller than the last, but the size allows it to fit perfectly in the purse I’m toting around in this season of my life. I enjoy the pop of color coming on the scene that represents me fulling embracing all the colors that make me, me. I FOR SURE feel the missing safety strap. Oh my. If you only knew. I feel at any given second, the notebook may fly open and expose all I’ve been thinking and processing as I’ve walked out a turbulent season of life. Crazy the similarities.

Here’s what I hope you and I take away from this conversation. We are each writing stories. The stories are made up of regular, daily, ordinary moments, dreams, huge milestones, mistakes, fears, wins, and the list goes on and on. What we are writing changes as seasons change. Where we are writing, well, it may change too. That’s okay. The focus is to keep writing, to allow the core of who we are, “the ink” to keep overflowing and spilling onto the pages of whatever notebook is before us. What good is a pen and notebook, if they aren’t used? I am choosing to write, how about you?

Completely switching gears, because I know I will be asked, here’s the link to my new favorite notebooks and my all-time favorite pens. There is part of me that wants to be selfish and keep them all to myself, but sharing is caring. Let me let you in on a secret. These notebooks DO go in and out of stock. A slight panic washes over me when I cannot purchase them, but trust me, they do come back available. The second a new notebook enters my life, you better believe I will let you know.

Alright, I think it’s time we part ways for the day. Thanks for allowing me to sort through my life with you. I pray some of these lessons I’m learning help you on your journey. We are in this thing together.