I am a notebooker. I proudly wear that title.

Almost everywhere I go, my notebook goes with me. I’m on notebook number 72ish. (Notebooks keep popping up after I’ve counted, so that’s frustrating. I’m not good with numbers.) I just started writing in this notebook on March 13th.

Starting a new notebook can be overwhelming, even for me. It occurred to me as the words came tumbling onto the page a couple of days ago,

After notebooking for so long, I know what I like in a notebook. I prefer blank pages and a hardbound book. My favorite notebooks to write in, come from Barnes and Noble, but I love to try new kinds…or do I?

Number 72 is from Michaels…

Different kind of cover, rounded edges to the pages…I know it sounds like those are unimportant details, but they aren’t. They matter. When I start a new notebook, it’s like starting a new relationship. I pour my heart into the words that cover those pages. It’s risky to start over. I looked back through my last two notebooks and this is a pattern…

It’s the beginning. Somehow, these words feel more important…bigger. Maybe that’s what stops lots of people.

…the pressure of being perfect. Hmmm, well now I have something to think about. I’m doing lots of writing about notebooks and this new notebook seems to be teaching me some new lessons. My students continue to teach me lessons about my own notebook practice. They love my writing. Last week they told me how beautiful it is. When I look at my writing, I see messy and mistakes. I yearn to have beautiful penmanship and make my “e”s better and on and on. It proves to me that we all see our own work with such a critical eye.

Here’s a peek into the covers and title pages of my last three notebooks… 

Number #70
September, 2016 – December, 2016

Number #71
January, 2017 – March, 2017

Number #72
March, 2017 –