Keeping a diary is one of my good habits
In 2008 I filled three whole journals with my almost daily writing; complaints, thoughts, plans, calendar drawings, questions, doodles and lists.
I think I do this because it’s habitual. I started as a kid and I just never stopped. It’s like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast, habits you keep doing even though you’ve forgotten who told you and why you do it.
I don’t write daily because I don’t have to. I’m in the habit of coming back. It can be a week or so between entries but after that I start missing writing and I come back to the page. I have no rules and that’s the way I like it. I do what ever I want, when ever I want, how ever I want. I do it because it grounds me. I think it’s out of diary keeping that my notebook love has grown. And I grow too, because my diary is my best friend…
The first book for 2008 was a blankie that I bound myself in the beginning of 2007! I made it while I was in a bookbinding class with Charlotte as my teacher. I didn’t think I’d ever be brave enough to fill it, as it was my first hand bound notebook, but when January came I was ready for a new diary. And this one was ready to be written. I don’t know how this happens, but the right time always come to start working in a blank book and then it transforms from “being pretty as it is” to something that belongs to me. I take possession over it. I make it my own. How do I do it? One page at a time!
Now the turquoise notebook is not a blankie anymore, it’s a used diary, and it’s chock full and retired, and more beautiful than ever. The amazing marbled paper in turquoise is now threadbare and the spine is falling apart. This is how a loved notebook looks. I think love always is messy, because it’s about emotions.
The second book is a Moleskine Plain Notebook with a bottle label that says “Hanna Quality”… The Moleskine is a great size for putting it into my handbag when I’m on the go, and this year I’ve been carrying my diary around with me everywhere! This is a new practice to me and I quite enjoy it, almost to the extreme. So that when I’m on the train at night I get irritated when there is not enough room on the train for me to sit on my own and finishing what I want to say in my diary.
The third diary of 2008 is the patchwork notebook I dressed up this summer. It has blank pages too (no lines) and was just finished in the beginning days of January. I love when that happens, as it is nice to align year ending with journal endings. And post endings, though then I had to write about my etsy finds…
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Thanks for a great and inspirational blog entry, Hanna! I love journals, and you made me wanna make my own too :) Guess I have to look for some bookbinding tutorial…
I hope you’ll share some pictures when your book is ready :)
Åshild
This is one good habit that I have too – and I am also in the habit of carrying my journal with me. It is so theraputic for me. I keep getting new ones – but I know I will fill them up. I wish I had had this habit when I was younger – don’t ever stop.
Oops. Left my comment on the wrong post – oh well. I definitely need to learn this habit and put into practice.
i’ve been keeping a diary since I was eleven. I love my diaries. They are filled with my dreams and secrets. They are my confessors as well. I was inspired by how you put fabric on your journal. I didn’t have fabric glue, I used the cheap photo glue I have. Voila, it worked. Now my journal has a beautiful new look.
Yes, I agree… that is one habit not to broken any time soon. What a treasure trove to look back upon, too.
Oh I know exactly what you mean about being bothered when there’s no room on the train. I was just on the subway trying to balance my moleskine on my bag and trying to write readable in it.
Do you feel sentimental when you finish a notebook and start a new one?
I’ve been writing in a diary (I prefer the word journal) since I was 13. It’s been 34 years already! I have two big boxes full–I find the older I get, the more interesting they are though. I love the fact that when I’m gone, my son will read them all one day. That’s a great thing to leave your children I think.
Your making your own diary is so inspiring to me! I’ve been keeping diaries for 16 years and have never been able to have that kind of personal, tactile relationship with my diaries– I buy them at bookstores and fancy boutique shops and build connections with them that way, but I would love to have the artistic abilities to make them myself….
Just started blogging about my experiences with my childhood journals, looking back on them, etc. Would love you to check it out as a diary lover =)
http://www.formerselfproject.blogspot.com
I’m a journal junkie! I continue to buy them even when I don’t need a new one, and most often a make my own anyway! I suppose I figure you can never have enough pages to fill.
I stumbled across here and have been exploring the archives all night. If I knew how to sew I think we could be twins! I look forward to reading more and am glad to have found your blog!
Thanks for commenting, I’m glad you’re enjoying my writings! The archive is huge as you might have noticed.