I was in the middle of drafting this post when a dear friend emailed me a link to an article in the NY Times. The article entitled, “How the Humble Notebook Became an Essential Creative Tool,” begins with the sentence, “A notebook is a record of both solitude and connection.” I was hooked.

Roland Allen’s book, “THE NOTEBOOK: A History of Thinking on Paper” is the focus of the article, so I downloaded a sample. I enjoyed learning the history of the Moleskine™ brand of notebooks used by writers from Chatwin to Hemingway, as well as artists from Matisse to Picasso. That was it: I immediately purchased my very own copy of Allen’s delightful 416-page book.

 That is why this week’s blog post is a couple days late…I was busy reading a book about my favorite thing: paper notebooks (which at times may be called sketchbooks, of course). You might love Allen’s book, too. In the meantime, here’s my take on why “thinking on paper” can have tremendous advantages in this digital age. Enjoy.

August 13. 2016 – Saturday 4:30pm journal entry

My buddy Dana has convinced me to start a blog.

Having a web presence of your own is daunting though. A blog is a clear step beyond social media belches.  A philosophical column on your own website is public writing that anyone can read and judge, not just your friends who will forgive you for being you. It’s one step closer to official authorship. I take this next step knowing full well I am being stalked (inside my head) by every obsessive English teacher I ever had, as well as two very pedantic parents.

One of the saddest literary forfeits since the advent of the internet is that there is no longer the Mandatory Pause. No more editorial gatekeepers. We are awash in a sea of first drafts masquerading as polished writing. Freedom of speech has gone from a chisel and a rock to worldwide blathering. No wonder our world feels so volatile and polarized at times.

I pause all the time when I’m writing. Even now, here in my journal, I sense that what I’m writing could be more clear, more honest. Happily, in my journal, there is no accidental “hit send.” Maybe that’s why I still like writing by hand. All private thoughts, no send button in sight.

I see the irony, of course: after hinting that I’m sentimental about the good ol’ days of pencil and paper and editorial hurdles, I have decided to join the mob and launch a blog website, today, August 13, 2016.

And a further irony, in this worldwide web blog, I plan to show people how decades of manual journaling and sketching have given me a healthy way to “keep my thoughts to myself,” most of the time. Because keeping a journal is like having a pressure release valve that saves jobs, friendships, and possibly even marriages.

A handwritten journal is a powerful tool when it becomes a regular friend. You can write or doodle in a notebook with a pen or pencil, scribbling out all those emotions by letting the natural “fonts” of handwriting emphasize exactly what you mean.

Bear down! Write a single word in screaming capital letters!

Underline not once like you do on a keyboard, but as many times as you need to declare, once and for all, that you really mean what you’re saying (at least for now…)

Let the passions of your head and heart pump all the way down to your fingertip capillaries, where those passions are released on the page in stark trails of graphite or ink. Ahhh…

You will become very protective of your journal with all those twisty meanderings of ink. You’ve discovered a safe place to keep your embryonic thoughts private, for at least a while. Writing in a journal can release just enough of our internal pressure so we can carry on with our external lives. At least I have found that to be true. My journal is where I practice clear thinking and develop a gentler heart.

Not everything is worth sharing, but if you think it’s worth saying, say it first to yourself, in writing, to try it on for size. Perhaps the only one who desperately needed to hear your honest words was you. And you are your most precious audience, so don’t hold back.

Over time, you’ll develop a “whine detector,” a vent sensor, and the world will be a better place because of your increased skills of discernment. (Of course now and then you will still need to vent and whine, so remember, your journal is always whispering, “Ouu, dahling, tell me more…”)

You may be surprised when you notice what you’re writing, while you’re writing. It can be a little spooky.

Fresh ideas will come to you that have never occurred to you before. They may not be crystal clear yet, but you keep writing because now you’re plugged-in to Wisdom and Insight that is not yours at all. It’s coming through you, and you feel like you’re taking dictation instead of creating anything by yourself.

So… who, me blog??  Yes.

The name of it? In honor of that blissful day two years ago now, when I first glimpsed this tiny, north-facing loft apartment, the blog will be called “Aloft with Inspiration.”

(to be continued…)

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 As always, thanks for spending some time with me “aloft.” Happy sketching!