The joy of notebooks, of pen to paper

I have always had a notebook or paper in my hand or in a drawer for as long as I can remember. As a child, I always had little notes or little books with things tucked in like a found feather, a stamp, a clip etc. 

I must have got this from my Mother because her regular letters often had a few seeds, a guinea fowl feather she knew I would like, stamps, newspaper cuttings, photos & more. 

As a lifelong teacher, it is natural to have a diary in your handbag  because your academic life runs to time & timetables - punctuality is key to keeping everything on track. 

 

The South African artist Robyn Gordon has a wonderful Instagram & Facebook page where she shares inspirational art, artists, thoughts & one of hers today (reshared from previously) is about notebooks. 

A quote from Robyn's post today ... 

“For me, a notebook keeper is someone who loves books -- holding them; the left and right layout of them; the intimate scale of them; the tactility of them…AND someone who loves the way you can fill them, put them on a shelf, and begin another, and how they accumulate on your shelf; someone who loves the modesty of them; who loves that they are a kind of mobile studio; and someone who loves the daily ritual of sitting down in a quiet place, opening their notebook and responding there to whatever they are experiencing at that moment.”

- Sandra Brownlee

It resonates with me because because I have notebooks everywhere at home, especially up on my desk, my personal space, the vintage desk I painted cream with the vivid pink of Emperors Silk in the insert. 

I am rather partial to monograms too & have several on my desk. 

There are also very personal things like the last birthday card from my parents, Ethiopian glass angels to watch over me as I work, cards from the daughters, my photo in print from a church, my parents early photograph album etc 

This space inspires me …

The desk contains mainly travel journals from my trips around Europe, Africa Karoo, Road tripping, The Balkans, The Baltics, Scandinavia, Transylvania, Morocco, Spain, India & trains, Austria Graz, Spanish Civil War, France, French Affair, Anne Frank tour , NC 500 Scotland etc. 

They are filled to bursting with memories of trips taken alone, with hubby, with friends, with family & they are special.

My space is watched over by Isabella, a mezzotint that I really loved & bought. It was  framed after some deliberation. 

I love the calmness of her 'all is well' gaze. She is Isabella Simpson by Henry Macbeth Raeburn. 

I have a whole shelf of academic diaries but consider those to be 'work' so they are kept separately. 

My Mother was a great letter writer & she shared news from their life in Africa when we were so far away. 

I knew the neighbours, the gardener, the petrol pump attendant, the butcher, the baker etc from her  stories of them.

Her letters are in my desk upstairs, along with those of my Dad who was not a great letter writer but we spoke daily from across the world. He knew all the family news; a call from Dad & I was up to date on everyone. 

 Their letters are in two very different letter holders I made  ... 

I kept travel journals & notes from trips to Africa - the books crammed with what people said, what ancestry info I gleaned from our conversations, shopping lists,  selling up a house & the possessions etc. They are all there to re-read & be transported back to that time, a time warp …

For at least a decade, I have kept a travel journal of my trips around Europe, some more comprehensive than others but it is interesting to reread the entries & to see how you viewed the people & places you visited. The best travel journals are bulging in their ribbons - full of maps, notes, bits of paper, entrance tickets, receipts, postcards, a pressed flower, a feather & more; all the things that caught your eye on the trip. For each person, the journal is different, personal, unique ... 

There is something very grounding about committing thoughts to paper, it engages the brain in a way that technology does not. My handwriting is not neat when I am rushed, as I often am on trips, but it is just for my benefit so I would rather write imperfectly than not at all. 

It is writing for yourself. 

This past birthday I was gifted 2 beautiful notebooks, a special candle in a gift set & a friend sent me some of her gorgeous hand painted notes from America. 

Another friend made a journal bag to carry books or a kindle in when travelling - they know me too well. 

They are all greatly appreciated as they inspire me to take more time to sit & write ... 

I sincerely hope that I am not alone in keeping notes, journals, diaries, records of things. Do tell if you do too .... 

As always, thank you for stopping by, my blog is in part a record of the things I enjoy in life .... 

Dee 📚📖🔖📘📒