Notebooks, Journals and Diaries

I’m going back to writing in notebooks. Did you know that apparently Thomas Edison had THOUSANDS of notebooks with scribbles and ideas and thoughts. I know that it was more popular in those days to sit down and put pen to paper (definitely thinking of Bridgerton as I write this) but I always find myself coming back to the thought pattern “I should do that” and I should. I have a fair few empty notebooks myself and a little bit more free time headed my direction than I am used to. Maybe it is time to be like Edison.

When you’re creatively inclined, it can be easy to lean into the dreams and notions of introducing creativity back into your life. For me, the majority of my creativity centers around my love of the English language and sometimes the absolutely burning desire to do nothing but create characters from ink and invisible thought waves. Music and Science are two other passions of mine, but I feel like they are conversations for another day.

Leaving my parents house this month, I had initially made the decision to leave all my notebooks behind. I didn’t need them I found myself thinking. I didn’t need them until I saw that fact about Thomas Edison and then without even thinking twice, I knew that it had been placed in my eyeline for a reason. The article I wrote the week I was moving out, the one about being worried about how I was going to fill my time. Reading reddit posts and online magazine articles for even a sliver of advice to ensure that I didn’t fall down a rabbit hole of lonliness when I was out by myself. And apparently all I needed was to see a piece of information about the man who invented the lightbulb. The incandescent lightbulb if that makes any difference to you! And he was also known for inventing the phonograph and the motion picture camera. I know I need to brush up on my history, but until I started reading a little about his history, I didn’t know that we had more to thank him for than being able to read books at night once the sun went down. 

Just to give an indication of the number of notebooks Mr Edison used, the Thomas Edison National Historical Park state that they have approximately 5 million pages. I’m no expert on the length of your average notebook but if each notebook averages at 280 pages, (according to their website) that’s about 17,800 notebooks… I don’t think he first priority was to save the trees! 

Now, the history lesson aside, this was a fairly long winded way of me confirming the fact that I am going to start writing in notebooks again and spend countless hours putting my thoughts down on paper and also in digital form, because realistically, I don’t want to be out here wasting paper. 

Who else is a fan of a pretty or decorative notebook?

Keep dreaming!