I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.
— Joan Didion
Did you keep a diary growing up? Do you journal? If so, are you old school with paper and pen or do you write digitally on a screen?
2020 has been the year of self-care. It’s more important than ever to treat ourselves well and make sure we’re nourishing our body and mind.
For me, regularly writing in a journal is a part of that. Can you relate?
I am old school when it comes to making lists, noting down ideas, and getting my thoughts out. There’s something to be said about putting a pen to paper. Yes, I know that may sound strange since I blog on a screen, but when I’m not blogging, I revert to good old paper and pen. I have a bit of a notebook obsession and there’s something about a beautiful notebook and actually putting pen to paper that seems more real to me and substantial than typing a list or jotting down notes on my phone.
The notebooks pictured here are from the French brand Rhodia. They make some of the best notebooks for journaling out there. They also come in fun colors and styles.
Beyond using notebooks for everyday notes, ideas, etc., I use journals as a private outlet for whatever is on my mind and as a way to work through something. If I’m struggling, I need a way to get it out of my body and into the universe so I can free myself from whatever it is and make sense of it. Bottling things up and sweeping them under the rug has never worked for me, so instead, I write. I talk to people, multiple people, maybe even my dog Dagny about whatever is bothering me, but then I write. Just the act of writing in a notebook and releasing whatever is on my mind makes the problem feel lighter.
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I’m angry at the pandemic but anger is mainly a useless emotion. It’s taken so much from us — friends and family, our jobs, our sense of calm and security, and our ability to live life normally — and spit it out back to us in the form of stress and anxiety that envelops us like a second skin.
When is this all going to change? When will we be able to get back to life as we knew it?
Writing is cathartic. Our thoughts and feelings need space to breathe.
What’s on your mind?
Disclosure: This post is not sponsored, but the Rhodia notebooks and pencil pictured in this post were gifted. This post contains affiliate links meaning I may earn a small commission on purchases made via my link, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Oui In France.
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I think you’re either old school or a type of introvert to love writing! I’m both! I dropped a grocery list in the parking lot and someone picked it up and said “you know you can do this on your phone”
Arlene, I woulda said, “Phone? I’m not calling anyone, & see if they role their eyes…lol!
Q
Putting pen (my parker refillable) to paper (several composition notebooks, regular, not college rule) clears the soul & mind of any accumulated filth from living here on earth. Here in the states we seem to have an inordinate amount hitting us daily, any clue why? lol, so love it, writing things out…
I’m of the age where our phones were plugged into the kitchen wall & my final college term paper was typed on my mom’s Royal manual typewriter, which was of iron & very heavy to carry! I later got my own Royal manual, of iron, but smaller. So, if we’re talking old school! hahaha…thanks Diane, you & your blogs/vlogs are absolutely precious; really, very needed!
Blessings!
Q
I always liked writing stuff by hand in cursive but not any more I can barely print due to shaking so much also because my handwritting is illegible I have used a typewriter since I was 14