Are sometimes the best

I have a new notebook (the old-fashioned kind—with paper) today.  And a newly filled fountain pen.  The possibilities are endless.

It doesn’t seem like much, does it?  But this is the notebook and pen I will use for Morning Pages for many weeks to come.  Having a new one means a) I’ve filled the old one—proof of adherence to a habit I’ve come to value and b) a renewed commitment to it.

Of course, I’ve always loved new notebooks and pens since long before Morning Pages.  The best thing about a new school year was the new supplies.  Notebooks, pencil boxes, a lunch box.  (I’m thinking I may shop for a lunch box again.  I’ve nowhere to go that requires me to pack a lunch, but maybe a nice lunch box would prompt me to think ahead about a decent meal every day.  Maybe.)

I do love computers, but a notebook and a pen are slightly more versatile.  You can take a notebook out on a boat, for instance.  It will function without electric cords, adapters or batteries.  They come smaller and lighter than cell phones, even, the better to scribble notes on the go.

I like my notebooks to be of the non-fancy type.  Don’t get me wrong.  I dearly love to look at the leather bound beauties in the stationery store or the ones with ornate cloth covers.  It’s just that I am intimidated by the artistry of the binding.  Surely a  notebook of this type, I think, must be reserved for thoughts of the highest order.  Consequently, I never have any thoughts at all when faced with such an exquisite holder for them.

I did once see something that might have given me the best of both worlds, but I didn’t buy it in time, and they don’t carry it anymore.  It was a leather cover for the old-fashioned composition books.  You know the kind.  You can get them for $1 now.  This cover was removable.  You could have the pleasure of a leather-clad notebook, but it could be replaced when full.

Self-indulgence without waste.

If I ever see it again, I’m buying it without hesitation.

Meantime, I have a new notebook!