Random Notes Make Life Interesting

If you didn’t already know, I carry a little pocketbook with me everywhere I go. Anytime I think of something worth remembering, I write it down in this little book. It makes for some funny-looking pages. Everything makes sense to me, but I often wonder what an outsider would think.

I’ve written all sorts of things in my little book. Open to any random page, and there’s no guessing what topic you’ll get. On the inside cover, I’ve drawn a triskelion symbol (see the image below this paragraph). The back inside cover is filled with charts and logs. They’re random. I used one section to track what shirt one of my fellow choral singers wears every time we meet. I don’t know why, but it seemed like a fun idea.

Two of my pages are covered in German. I don’t speak German, but I’m currently in the process of learning to sing a German song. I wrote out all the lyrics to help me practice. A few pages later, I have several paragraphs written about Irish folklore. After that is an image of a tree drawn in blue ink.

Sometimes I think of random sayings and write them down to inspire myself. Today I wrote, “The shortest path isn’t always the right path.” It’s hard to read because I wrote it while I was hiking. It wasn’t until I was on my way home that I realized I could apply that concept to my journey as an author.

I’ve taken notes from writing workshops. There’s a reminder on one line not to use the word specific when writing creatively. Better to write in the specifics than to use the word specific. There are around five pages of information like this. When I get stuck in my writing, I refer to it.

I’m not sure why I’m sharing all of this. This post feels as random as the text in my little book. I guess it’s because my little book means a lot to me. More people should carry little books. You never know what might be worth writing down. I kept track of the shirt my friend wore for nearly two months. That seems useless, but in the end, it helped me learn more about him.

In case you’re wondering, he usually wears fun collared button-up shirts when it’s warm, but prefers a thick hunting jacket in the cold. Oddly, he most recently wore a tank top and shorts.

Writers have a strange obsession with journals. We horde them. Oftentimes, we fail to fill them, instead buying new ones. This little book of mine is the first one that I didn’t set a topic for. Instead, I write whatever I feel like. It’s filling much faster, and I’ve found it more useful. If you’re reading this, consider buying a little pocketbook of your own. You never know how it may affect your life.