Ye Olde Pen & Paper

I just crossed an item off my to do list, and it felt so good. It might be some romanticized view of writing I’m carrying over from my childhood, but I just can’t let go of pen and paper. I have at least one to-do list on my desk at all times (occasionally more). From time to time I’ve tried various versions of non-paper to-do lists, and they fail. There’s something therapeutic about putting pen to paper and getting it out (and then later, scratching it out). This paper fascination doesn’t stop at lists. I literally have an entire file cabinet drawer dedicated to note cards. I love them. And no matter how quick and convenient an e-mail is, nothing says “I miss you” or “I’m thinking about you” like a nicely-written, unexpected note card.

Perhaps it’s the fact that to-do lists, cards, doodles, etc. are tangible in a way that electronic communications are not. I still start new design projects with doodles on paper – often a 3×5 note card. My husband was required to do all his drawings in architecture school on paper – their use of computers for drawing was very limited – and while he uses computers at work for convenience, when he’s working on a project at home he often sits down at a desk with pencil, paper and ruler in hand to work things out the old fashioned way. I remember vividly at my first job after graduating college, the sick feeling I got in the pit of my stomach on the day a newsletter or brochure I had designed was to be delivered. Once it was on paper, there was no going back. If I had messed up, there it was in print – for all the world to see. I still get a little nervous on a big job, I admit it.

And oh, how I love a good sheet of paper and a perfectly balanced, smooth pen. I have sheets of papers on the shelf in my closet that I’ve chosen for no particular purpose other than their beauty. I have two nice pens I use for important meetings (when I need a boost of confidence, I find it in my trusty companion, the pen). My friend Kim is constantly on the quest for the perfect pen – poor girl – once she found it only to discover it had been discontinued. She wrote the manufacturer, who graciously sent her a couple dozen they found in stray boxes in the warehouses. She determined she would save them for a really bad day. I totally understood.

I love blogging – truly. But that won’t stop me from keeping a hand-written list of blog topic ideas by my computer desk for days when I’m too busy to write right away, or days when I can’t decide what to write about. I would bet that behind every good blog is a scratchy, to-do list and a pile of half-finished journals hidden in the attic.