I am a stationary person; I loved back-to-school season with all its brightly packaged pens, I relished in choosing the best folder and pencil case that represented me (this is what happens when you make kids wear a uniform), I watched StudyTube religiously to get into the learning mindset (I was procrastinating under the guise of being productive).
And I loved notebooks. It was bad. Something about that fresh first page sets my stomach on edge as I imagine the person I will become when I use it. It led to many abandoned pages to yellow in cupboards, untouched, when I don’t magically change into the perfect version of myself.
Over the years, I’ve become more restrained when it comes to notebooks, although anyone who knows me would probably disagree. Since the inception of BookTok, I’ve seen a new rise in similar concepts: performative reading, of overconsumption and consumerism, all under the sentiment of self-betterment. I’ve listed every type of record that came across my feed, and it got me wondering – what makes them different from one another?
- Thinking books
- Commonplace books
- Journals
- Planners
- Bullet journals
- Reading journals
- Notebooks for classes
- Notebooks for work
- Notebooks for art
- Food diaries
- Diaries
- Grimoire
I understand wanting to keep aspects of your life separate; mixing class notes with journal entries is never going to set you up for success. But what’s wrong with having everything in one place?
Full disclosure here, I started this piece a while ago, and I’m finishing after I’ve just received my second Paper Republic notebook – I am no better than anyone else. But here is my excuse: I’ve been using my original Paper Republic Grand Voyager for close to a year, and I cannot imagine going back to the other systems I’ve tried in the past. During my sixth form days, I was a Passion Planner diehard, but my life has changed since then, as have my needs when it came to a journal/planner.
Only after a few months of me using my leather journal, Paper Republic came out with the Trifold, which can hold up to 6 notebooks rather than the usual 2-3 for the other journals. I’d been squashing 4 into my poor Grand Voyager, but it had withstood the pressure well. But I still felt like I needed more space; I enjoyed the feeling of having everything in one place and only having to carry one notebook and know that if I needed something, I could find it with ease.
So I waited. Paper Republic came out with more beautiful colours for the Trifold, and I was waiting for Christmas and then my birthday, but it was never the right time. I still yearned for the Trifold, knowing that it would help me – not in the same way as other notebooks, with their false promise of a perfect life, but rather that I knew what I needed to do with it.
Then, Paper Republic launched their dúchas collection. Mossy green and deep purple together, available in each notebook format, inspired by the Irish landscape, encouraging journalers everywhere to connect with their heritage and the places they live.
Sound familiar?
If not, then go and read my last blog about working with Karen at Goodness Marketing (marketing genius).
So I finally got my hands on the Trifold, imbued with a sacred reverence for the work I am trying to do here at Barnard Publishing Ltd.
So that’s my excuse – but why am I still talking about it?
My Trifold has everything I need in one place. It has a notebook for publishing and admin work, space for my journaling, a month-to-month calendar, all with space to spare. Go back to that list I wrote, and I’ll tell you that I can fit most, if not all, of them into this A5 leather rectangle.
This is where the guilt kicks in; I now have two leather journals. It is a little unnecessary, especially as they are meant to last you a lifetime. I’m not throwing my first one away, no, no. But I feel like I’ve fallen into the trap of overconsumption that I see on Journaling TikTok, where people sit in front of the camera and show you the 4, 5, 6+ leather journaling systems they have at once. And maybe they need them – I don’t know what their life is like – but I do feel like consumerism has a hand here.
So make sure to give your old unused notebooks some love. They don’t have to be all neat and tidy for them to get used.
I often find it difficult to get all of my thoughts down in one place like this, so comment below if I’ve missed anything. Do you think I’m playing into the hands of Consumerism with my recent purchase? Or maybe I’ve missed the point entirely when it comes to notebooks?
