I’ve been pondering lately, whether a person can have too many journals, especially last night when I went looking for a journal I had used to write some personal thoughts and goals. I couldn’t remember where I had put the journal, but even worse than that, I couldn’t remember which journal I had even used. I wonder if I am the only person in this position, or if others have had the same problem?
Over the years I’ve managed to accumulate more than a fair share of journals. I have leather ones, and spiral ones, some inspirational types and some I received as gifts. The hardest time of the year for me is staying out of the stationery stores in August and September around the new school year. It’s amazing just how many new styles of journals and writing notebooks they come out with each year. Invariably I pick up a couple. I’ve even resorted recently to sneaking journals into the house.
Now I do keep all my unused journals in one spot. The problem arises when I grab a journal for a specific purpose - such as writing goals, or notes about some emotions I am dealing with. I journal in different areas of the house, or I may take journals with me and store them in a favorite bag or on a shelf for later use. It seems every writing subject requires a new journal, and herein lies the problem - I’ve got too many on the go.
I also don’t believe in ripping pages out of a journal I’ve started and attaching them to another journal, or rewriting the entries into other journals. To me, the writing style and it’s messiness or neatness goes along with the subject matter and the date the entry was written. I’ve come to realize though I may have to gather all my journals I’ve touched with entries into a box and label it “Journal Storage”. At least then I could flip through them all and find what I am looking for.
As for a solution to my problem, for me there isn’t one. I shall continue purchasing the cute, odd, beautiful-gift-type-of journals, writing specific subjects unique to the style of journal, even if it is only a few entries, and trying not to misplace them. I do believe a central spot of storage though would solve part of the problem.
If you like a different journal for every specific subject on your list, then check out my store at Journals and Papers. Perhaps I should sell storage boxes too!