There is something magical about sitting down with a blank page and a pen and writing my thoughts out. I’m talking about paper and pen, no keyboards or transcription programs allowed. Do you do this too? Sit down in old fashioned style and write a novel or short story? Write in a diary or journal? Write letters?
Who out there likes to get the words, emotions, thoughts or whatever out with a paper to pen connection?
I know I can’t be the only one. Speak up, and let your voice be heard!
Writing in a journal is relaxing for me. I have over 20 journals (maybe more), each dedicated to a different topic and writing style. I have one journal for random list making, another to record creative writing ideas, yet another to spill out all of my thoughts following a bad day. I have nature journals, work journals and cooking journals. For me, keeping things in order like this is also relaxing, even though it may seem extremely detailed.
Maybe I’m a journal connoisseur? I mean, I am picky about how my journals look and feel in my hand. What’s even weirder, is I like a variety of looks and feels, it’s just that each one serves it’s own purpose. I am to journaling as Ollivander is to wands.
Sometimes I will be given a journal by someone who knows I love journals. When I get it, I’m instantly in love with it, but I’m not yet connected with it. I don’t get connected to that journal until I’ve held it for awhile, looked at it for awhile, and thought about it until one day the light bulb glows and I suddenly know exactly what that journal’s purpose is. It’s almost like the journal comes to life and speaks to me.
Corny as that may seem, it helps me write. Once I know a journal’s purpose it makes it easier to write. I can look at my stack of journals and one of them eventually jumps out at me (figuratively, not literally) and I realize I know what I need to put down on paper.
Speaking of realizing what I need to get on paper, sometimes those moments make journaling therapeutic for me. Almost like a meditation while writing. Transcribing the words that have been bothering me, or running through my head on replay for hours on end is like a pause button, or even a stop button. It gives me a chance to work through the problem’s of the world, my world, in a new approach. It’s something to give me new perspective on something I can’t come to terms with using other approaches. Sometimes the words evade me until they’re down on paper. Once the words start flowing then out comes whatever needs to come out.
It’s a cathartic release. It gives me a feeling of new life and a fresh start on the issues. It’s comforting, and one of my coping mechanisms I hope I never lose.
This is something I can’t always replicate with a blank screen and keyboard. There is a mental connection I have with pen and paper. It’s one I’m planning to pass on to my kids, and I hope it’s just as magical for them.
Writing is a way I get in touch with my emotions. It’s a way I learn to work through things rationally. It’s also a way for me to connect to my imagination.
I’m the creator of the words on the page, and my many journals are the homes of those written worlds.
Do you write much with paper and pen? Tell me your experiences in the comments below. I’d love to share some of that handwriting love with others.
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