On blank pages, ordinary days, and not saving the good things for later.
There’s something about a new notebook that makes us hesitate.
The cover is lovely. The pages are clean. And suddenly, whatever we were going to write doesn’t seem quite important enough.
So we put it aside.
For a better idea. For a fresh start. For the day we become someone with beautiful handwriting and something interesting to say every morning.
That’s a lot to ask of a notebook.
Especially before we’ve even opened it.
October seems like a good time to take some of that pressure off.
We’re not at the beginning of the year. There’s no January promise to keep. Just a change in the air and a few pages waiting for whatever you want to put on them.
A grocery list.
The name of a book someone recommended.
An idea that arrived while you were supposed to be doing something else.
Something you don’t want to forget.
None of it needs to be impressive. It just needs somewhere to go.
I make journals and notebooks by hand, and I want them to be enjoyed. Not kept untouched because they’re too nice to use.
The cover can be beautiful and the inside can be a jumble.
Cross things out. Change your mind. Leave a page half finished. Write something sideways because you ran out of room.
You haven’t spoiled it.
You’ve made it yours.
There’s room for a journal that isn’t a daily habit or a self-improvement project.
One you pick up when you feel like it.
One that holds a recipe beside a Christmas gift idea, with a few thoughts tucked in between. No particular order. No need to explain the gaps.
Ordinary life is worth writing down, too.
So if you have a lovely notebook tucked away somewhere, perhaps this is the month to open it.
You don’t need to start on a Monday. You don’t need a special pen. And you certainly don’t need to catch up on all the days you haven’t written.
Just start with what’s on your mind.
The notebook doesn’t mind.
— Gwen, GG's Handmade Creations
Handcrafted in Scotch Village, Nova Scotia
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