Rarely do I ever find a blog that compels me to read page after page of entries without stopping, but http://www.notebookstories.com is a wonderful exception I recently found. It’s an exhaustive site dedicated to journals, pens and all the accoutrements that can become addictions when one leads the writerly life. In addition to detailed reviews of many gorgeous writing books, people are encouraged to send photos of their collections to the “notebook addict of the week” feature. It makes me feel good to know there are other “old fashioned” pen and paper fanatics out there, so I thought I’d share photos of my journal collection.

Believe it or not, this is only my journal collection for the past ten years. My mother has my high school and college journals at home. Basically, my journals are just a week by week account of my life, a legacy of sorts to leave my family. As I get older, I find myself writing more about my philosophies and views on the world as well as the day to day stuff; as I have evolved, so have my journals.

The journal with tulips is the earliest one I have from 2000/2001. It’s special to me because my mother’s then puppy, Pepper, chewed on it and left little tooth marks in it. I went back recently to my 9/11 entry and found that it just stopped midstream. I think that was because I couldn’t process what had happened for a long time.

A New Leaf is my gardening journal, with notes on what organic herbicides I used, what flowers worked, what didn’t and how often I fed and watered them. The paper Ecojot notebook in the center stack is one I took photography notes with.

The angel journal is unused and is one my mother gave me for Christmas 2009. My sister gave me the globe notebook for my birthday, and it came from the Air and Space Museum.

As you can see, my journals are electic and it’s hard to define my perfect journal. I like them to be big enough to allow me to get long winded. I like leather bound journals, though paper or hardcover works just was well. I don’t really care if a journal is lined or unlined, but if it’s unlined I prefer a thicker paper like mulberry paper or something like that. I’m not too terribly particular when it comes to my journals. As long as it’s got pages and I have a working pen, I’m happy.