New Athenian Academy

I have a plain black and white composition notebook that I carry around with me everywhere.  It resides in my big pink bag with a few pens, a reading book or two, various mail pieces, and a laptop.  I could get rid of everything in the bag except for the composition book (and a pen of course, I’m not going to write with my own blood).   Try as I might to move completely into the technological age, I can’t give up that notebook.

The notebook carries my ideas, my to-do lists, dates to remember, interesting links, notes to friends.  It’s a catch-all lifeline.  It’s an extension of me that a laptop just can not replace.  I am not dependent on my electronics like many people today.  But I dependent on my notebook.  It’s comfort item, much like the security blanket or bunny you had when you were 3.  It makes me feel safe and secure… me.

“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” — James Michener

Taking a pen (preferably some bright color like purple or green) and touching it to a clean sheet a paper…. magical.  I never know what’s going to come out of the pen: powerful prose, mundane grocery list, fantastical fiction, fragmented schedule.  It’s a mystery.  And I like it that way.

Typing on the laptop, I really focus on my writing.  It’s not necessarily whatever comes out.  I think about what I want to commit to the blank screen.  Of course, any mistake I make is easy to correct (that awesome delete button), but sometimes the mistakes are more revealing and inspirational for other ideas.  I like the mistakes.  There’s just no way to see the creative process on a laptop,  We don’t leave our mistakes in a Pages document (yes, I am a Mac user and love it!), we erase and write.  We are left with a clean copy, void of doodles, cross outs, random notes.

I have a love affair with notebooks and the written word.   No matter how much I use my laptop, I will still have a magic composition book in my bag ready for that extra note or interesting quote.  As much as my techie friends make fun of me for it, I don’t care.  I love that notebook.  And when I it up and there are no blank pages left, have no fear, I have 10 more in a box in the garage due to my school supply addiction.  I will just grab a new one, crack that spine, and let the ink start flowing.

“When you speak, your words echo only across the room. But when you write, your words echo down the ages.” — Bud Gardner

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Education Process by Tobe