What To Do With Your Fancy Notebooks and Journals

“Too nice to use” is not a thing.

I have a leather fetish.

A leather journal fetish, that is.

And it’s not just for journals. I’ve also obsessively gathered an assortment of pen holders, portfolios, notepad cases, caddies, and bags. Most are leather, a few incorporate canvas, wood, or metal.

They all have a certain old-world charm to them and a patina of elegance, which stands in stark contrast to my actual life. I can’t help myself, though. I’m the kind of guy all those targeted Instagram ads hawking leather goods had in mind.

There are times when I wonder if I actually follow any actual people on Instagram, or if my feed is nothing but targeted ads showing off some company’s latest offering in hand-tooled, coffee-color-stained leather journals featuring 150 pages (lined, dot-grid, or blank), pockets for note cards, and brass clasps.

Your collection might be different, but the idea is the same.

You love a good looking notebook or journal. Its elegance, sturdiness, and seriousness all scream, “This is the journal of a real writer!”

So now you’ve got a stack of them… all untouched.

Untouched?

Well, maybe you haven’t come up with anything worthy of recording in such a beautiful artifact. Perhaps you don’t want to ruin it with poor penmanship or simply “the wrong kind of pen.”

I get it. It’s Blank Page Syndrome physically manifested.

It’s hard to take something that looks so perfect and commit anything less-than-perfect to it.

So, instead, you end up with a growing pile of handsome journals, all empty.

No wonder your friends and family are planning that intervention.

I blame my dad

He had a thing for notebooks as well.

My dad passed away a little over ten years ago. While sorting through his belongings, I came across several old notebooks — dime-store notebooks for the most part, but they’ve held up pretty well. The most exciting find was a notebook that was still in pretty good condition despite being over 50 years old. In it, my father had recorded some details and thoughts surrounding my birth.

Jeez.

Other notebooks included story ideas, business ideas, random thoughts for which I had no context, and more.

I remember my dad jotting down notes on index cards, but apparently, he also used notebooks. I just hadn’t been aware of it.

We never really know our parents, do we?

Discovering these old notebooks finally helped me break through the resistance I had to actually use the notebooks and journals I amassed.

I’ve been enjoying the practice. So can you.

Use your journals

Okay, that sounds overly simple. Maybe it is.

A notebook full of random writings can turn into a great little artifact recording what’s going on in your life at that given moment. If page one is a list of Netflix shows you want to remember to check out, and maybe a few t-shirt designs I want to try, then so be it. Writing that down on the first page accomplishes three things:

First, it reminds me to check out Queen’s Gambit, The Umbrella Academy, and maybe finally see what all the fuss is about The Office. (I’ve been meaning to check that last one out for years.) And it reminds me I haven’t added any new designs to my Redbubble store in a while, and maybe I should try out some new designs.

Second, it will remind future me of past me — possibly become a source of reflection. What was I interested in pop-culture-wise? What did I think would be clever for a t-shirt? Maybe my son will find them when I’m in my eld or in the ground, and he can learn a bit more about ol’ dad. I really wish I knew my dad better. He wasn’t distant or anything, but I suspect we never know enough about our parents. Finding his old notebooks has been an incredible, interesting experience. My son deserves that same experience one day.

Finally, writing down almost any-old-thing in a new notebook or journal breaks the air of perfection holding you back. I’ve heard some people suggest just random scribbling for the first few pages. If that’s more manageable for you, then fine.

For me, even if page one is “Buy milk. Pick up shirts. Buy a new plunger…”

That’s enough to get the ball rolling.

Page two can be lists of books to be read. Page three can be what I really think of my neighbor and his leaf blower. Page four can be Proust, followed by more ranting about my neighbor’s leaf blower.

That beautiful journal is being filled with words.

Mindfulness exercises

I’ll make this part brief because “mindfulness” is becoming a bit too much of a trending topic, and I don’t want you to skip reading the rest of this because of that word.

That said, there is something to be said for the mindfulness engaged in when jotting down things in a notebook. Journal writing does not have to be high-flown deep thoughts. Coming up with names for fake baseball teams counts as well.

Pen to paper is a mindfulness practice. It’s like chopping wood or carrying water, but there’s less sweating involved.

More than one

Don’t feel you have to limit yourself to one journal or notebook at a time. I have dozens waiting to be used and a full realization I will collect more in the future, so there’s no sense in waiting.

The small notebook made by school kids in Ecuador sits in my car and is where I write down short shopping lists, addresses I need to know that day, story or poem ideas, and so forth. The slightly larger leather-bound journal on the back porch lists different pipe tobacco I’ve tried and how I would rate them. The slim forest-green notebook next to me right now has article writing ideas and lists, although the first couple of pages are some crudely-drawn cartoon ideas. The portfolio notebook under that notebook lists weekly tasks. It’s also where I’ve written my WiFi password in case I need it quickly.

It’s the same story for notebooks in the kitchen, the bathroom, and the bedroom.

I have many more journals and notebooks waiting to be used. You might have but a few, but they’re just as hungry to be used.

And when they’re filled, put them away. Open another.

A pristine, elegant journal or notebook is a fine thing to behold.

A notebook or journal filled with words is excruciatingly beautiful!

Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.