I'm a writer. I've been a writer since I was a kid. My life as a writer started with my first notebook, when I was ten years old. My mom bought it for me. The blue and white-flowered fabric cover took my breath away. It was hard cover.
I could hardly believe that these blank pages would be filled with my writing. My pencil scratched out diary entries and doodles. Pages were filled with poems and musings of an adolescent.
This book opened up a world of possibility for me. On these pages, I was free to express myself. I figured out problems I was having with friends. I struggled with my self-image on these pages. I used words to help me cope with the world around me. Writing in this notebook became a new world for me to discover.
Since this first notebook, I've written in many, many more. Currently, I'm writing in notebook number seventy-five. These pages call to me. They are home. Wherever I am, I open my notebook and I've come home.
Writing in a notebook allows me space to be messy and ugly and silly. It frees up my creative mind. It gives me permission to see the world and to value my own unique vision of it. I've kept up this practice for the past thirty-six years. This ritual has turned me into a writer. Here's a peek into some notebooks and pages of mine throughout the years:
Since this first notebook, I've written in many, many more. Currently, I'm writing in notebook number seventy-five. These pages call to me. They are home. Wherever I am, I open my notebook and I've come home.
Writing in a notebook allows me space to be messy and ugly and silly. It frees up my creative mind. It gives me permission to see the world and to value my own unique vision of it. I've kept up this practice for the past thirty-six years. This ritual has turned me into a writer. Here's a peek into some notebooks and pages of mine throughout the years:
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| Notebook page from high school when I was living in Spain |
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| Poetry |
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| Processing my first writing group |
Whenever writing becomes a struggle and I'm not sure what to do next, I return to the pages of my notebook. They sustain me. They support me. They inspire me. Thanks for that first notebook, Mom!
I've never counted my notebooks, but I know it's not as many. I wrote as a teen in a locked diary. I didn't sustain this writing through college and beyond. I came back to it in 1995 when I took the NWP writing institute. I have filled a shelf in my closet. I should go back and count. I enjoy pulling one out to see where I was and what I was writing about then. Thanks for daring to share your notebook pages.
ReplyDeleteAs long as I can remember I wrote. I carried a book, notebook and pencil around with me all the time. I wrote stories to read to my sisters and cousins. Unfortunately my family never considered them of value for saving. All the notebooks I had when we moved to Florida were discarded. I have five I keep at school and twelve at home. My family indulges my love of notebooks and get them for me for my birthday and Christmas. They are my favorite gift. There are all kinds of little gems to be found in those older notebooks.
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