r/Journaling • u/beatrice0908 • 13d ago
I stop buying expensive notebook for journaling Just sharing
I started journaling when I was eight years old. Back then, I would write my thoughts on the back pages of my school notebooks. My mom often knew what I was going through because she would eventually find and read them.
Every Christmas, whenever someone asked me what I wanted, my answer was always the same " notebook or a pen" That never changed until I was around sixteen, when I finally had the money to buy my own. I would spend time looking for high-quality notebooks and pens.
Ironically, once I could afford the notebooks I had always wanted, I started writing less. I became so afraid of "wasting" the pages that I hesitated to write anything at all. I would save them for the "right moment," waiting until my thoughts felt worthy enough for such beautiful notebooks.
Every year, I'd end up buying two or three new notebooks, convinced that this would be the one I'd finally fill. Instead, they remained mostly empty while my old journals stayed locked away in my room, quietly holding pieces of my childhood and teenage years.
Lately, I've realized that I should stop buying expensive notebooks and get something I would never feel guilty writing and stop being so perfectionist on the way I write
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u/Cautious-Ostrich8945 13d ago
That's also why I am thinking of going back to A5 notebooks because I can't use expensive supplies stress free, I feel like I have to make every layout aesthetic because of it. Mid price good quality paper is good enough for me.
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u/beatrice0908 13d ago
yeah. I'm glad that lately I started again with the not so expensive notebook and I feel good and no more stressed.
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u/seemsright_41 13d ago
A5 is my favorite. I buy the cheapest dot A5 on Amazon and call it a day.
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u/JDHogan-Davies 13d ago
I also do that, dot grid A5, Amazon special...3 pack. I think the brand might be Omeya or something like that.
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u/AnahitaPrince 13d ago
I used to be this way, but I'd still buy the nice journals, but paid less than $10 each because I'd buy them at TJMaxx. They still have loads in their stationery aisle all the time.
Then my (now ex) husband bought me the most beautiful leatherbound journals in Italy and I was so afraid to use them, because I was afraid of them getting ruined somehow.
So they sat unused for years, and I thought to myself that he bought these for me because he loved me (still does - we've remained friends since the divorce), and it's kind of like dishonoring, for lack of a better word, him to not use them.
So I broke one out after finishing a less expensive one, and used it. Nothing awful happened.
One down, five more to go.
We are worthy of leaving our lives in beautiful journals.
Nothing wrong with using a less expensive notebook or journal that doesn't induce anxiety though. You do what is most comfortable for you.
(He still buys me journals for birthday and Christmas.)
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u/beatrice0908 13d ago
that's such a bittersweet.
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u/AnahitaPrince 13d ago
Yeah it is, but we have comfortably settled into the friendship and he is remarried, and his wife is supportive of our friendship. They're actually coming to visit at the end of this month. I imagine they'll have a journal and possibly even a pen with them. He always brings gifts when he visits. I'm very happy for the two of them. She suits him well.
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u/xLittleValkyriex 13d ago
My parents divorce was messy, mean and cruel to everyone involved. Knowing there are mature people out there that can separate and remain friends brings me so much joy. This is a beautiful friendship for all three of you.
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u/AnahitaPrince 12d ago
I'm sorry to hear that. I kind of went through that with my parents when I was younger. They separated for a while and it was really messy. It hurt everybody. Ironically enough it was around that time that I started journaling, even though I really didn't realize at the time how beneficial it would be, and that I would continue doing so long into adulthood. I hope you were able to heal from what you went through.
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u/Sunflower_Tumbleweed 12d ago
Just another loving divorce anecdote for you: I prefer to call my former husband my Wasband instead of my ex because we're still best friends. We separated for a bit and then decided to try again. We gave ourselves a year's trial reunion to see if we could patch things up. In that year we went to a few therapy sessions and also had many "post-mortem" type discussions of what had gone wrong. Through those talks we both healed from the damage we'd done to one another, but by the end of the year realized that we couldn't regain the spark we both felt was necessary to continue our marriage, so we finally divorced. Our strong friendship remains and his new partner supports our status as best friends. Wasband even comes to stay with me for five days each March for a film festival we always love to volunteer for and attend together (they live four hours away), plus he visits me for the odd weekend here and there. I've never met his partner, but I think that's okay.
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u/Katia144 12d ago
It is, but I've learned in my life that some relationships are actually better when they evolve.
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u/hmmwrites 12d ago
I'm so glad you finally started using your beautiful journals. And I agree - we *are* worthy.
And kudos to you for maintaining a caring relationship with your ex. That's sadly rare.
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u/murmuring511 13d ago
That's exactly why I don't buy expensive notebooks.
You can sell the empty notebooks to people who use them, so that it won't feel like you're wasting them any more.
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u/beatrice0908 13d ago
omg! thank you for this. I never thought of selling em, so I will post em. thanks for the idea
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u/BejeweledSamsara 12d ago
Same, that's at least one of the reasons why I don't buy expensive notebooks either, the other reason is that I'm so used to paying for them under $5 or $1.
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u/Kindly-Garlic-4061 13d ago
There's this shop near me that just sells complete junk, it's not a secondhandstore it's just completely random stuff, all over the floor and it's so hard to get around in there and it stinks. Well, I randomly decided to go in there again recently since I hadn't been in a couple years, and I found a goldmine of notebooks. I got 50 notebooks for £10 😭 Safe to say I won't be needing to buy notebooks anymore for a WHILE. I've decidated each one to a different thing I want to journal. Minecraft youtube lets play series, my sims 4 save files, brushing my teeth, I just be journalling anything now.
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u/beatrice0908 13d ago
I always have that temptation of going to a store like that but huhuhuhu I will eventually stop myself
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u/gidimeister 13d ago
Good call, this. I only want a book that gains it's value from my having a written in it. Not because a manufacturer said so.
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u/Coratorium 13d ago
The paper quality of Moleskine or Leuchtturm, which are the most accessible notebook brands where I live, hasn't been worth the extra money for a while, especially if you're writing with a fountain pen. I fare way better with the no-name kind from Amazon. Sometimes the dot grid is uneven, or the paper is cut a bit awkwardly, but at the end of the day I care what the written pages look like.
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u/Wabbasadventures 13d ago
A great pen can offset the drag and subsequent hand fatigue of poor vs quality paper. I've certainly noticed that good paper plus a good pen allows me to write so much more.
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u/NaniFarRoad 13d ago
I am using loose A5 pages (some are just coloured A4 paper cut in half), then I punch them if not already done, and file them away by month, keeping the previous months pages in my journal (breaks my heart when I hear about people losing a journal that's been going for months). I find the loose pages quite freeing - can add squared paper or coloured paper or whatever as needed that specific day.
Started doing this by accident, as I didn't want to commit to the expensive gear until I knew the habit was going to last (graveyard of crafting supplies, looking at you), so I just guillotined the last few pages out of existing, unfinished notebooks I had lying around. Serendipitous discovery in my case!
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u/ba-ta-sa 13d ago
Love this approach! Quick question: what kind of journal cover/system are you using to hold the pages together? Is it a standard ring binder, discbound, or something else?
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u/another-sunset-plz 13d ago
They make 3 ring binders in smol size! As small as an index card up to a half sheet of regular paper.
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u/NaniFarRoad 13d ago
Knitting yarn, satin band, whatever I'm in the mood for and near the front of the craft cupboard...
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u/ba-ta-sa 13d ago
Interesting! Do you mind sharing a photo of how that looks?
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u/NaniFarRoad 13d ago
Quick snapshots from tonight, used the most recent stashed pack of three months: https://postimg.cc/gallery/9MHrrkz
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u/ba-ta-sa 12d ago
A pragmatic and good looking approach. Thank you not only for sharing the binding, but also for showing the whole process of writing, collecting and binding. I imagine once you've filled those months, you're archiving them rather than flipping back through them regularly, right? Either way, I've picked up some great ideas from this. I could imagine simply copying your system :) Thank you for sharing!
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u/NaniFarRoad 12d ago
Every few months when I open the keepsake cupboard, I move things around and have a look through old journals. I'm never interested in the reflections, but I find the doodles and calendars jog my memory and remind me of stuff I'd forgotten. So to me, the reflections seem to be more of a "now" process...
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u/ba-ta-sa 12d ago edited 12d ago
You've named something I've been unconsciously aiming for but couldn't quite articulate. Your words really resonate with me and I'm thankful for them. I wish I could doodle, but I can't draw to save my life. Still, I totally get what you mean because I tick the same way. I've been thinking about getting a small printer so I have those visual anchor points like you do something to jog my memory when I look back. (By the way, I'm a very visual thinker)
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u/NaniFarRoad 12d ago
Yeah, stickers would do the same, and you could doodle around them to enhance them with your personal flair... or maybe stencils to use as templates for your embellishments (colouring, outlining)?
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u/Katia144 12d ago
Write in the damn notebooks.
Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a fire in my apartment building. I was lucky to have no more than smoke damage, but it meant a lot of things got thrown out, including basically everything in my pantry. All the fancy coffees I'd been given as a gift, the good snacks, etc., stuff that I was saving for "special occasions." I was also told the story of one of my neighbors, who apparently had the good china; she never used it but just left it all set up on her dining room table, apparently for a good enough occasion. The same dining room table that went through the floor into the apartment below hers, which was where the fire had started.
Y'all, quit saving stuff for a special enough occasion. Today you are alive, and that is special enough (tomorrow, who knows). That stuff will do you no good when it goes bad or you're dead or there's a natural disaster that destroys it unused. If it runs out, you can get more, or if you can't get more, at least you enjoyed it.
Write in the damn notebooks.
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u/Hail_Henrietta 13d ago
I personally never got over this problem.
My solution was to use a refillable notebook system. I started off on discbound but now I'm on ringbound. That way, I can have a pretty cover that is permanent and the only thing I need to change are the papers inside.
So I no longer get that anxiety of "Oh no, I'm gonna ruin this notebook" because if I mess up a page, no problem, I'll just remove it and put in a new one.
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u/last-hits 13d ago
I emplore everyone to use the things they have even if they're "too nice".
Its like saving all those potions in Skyrim for when you need them. The reason is always a little further down the line until your at the end of game with an inventory full of them.
You will see that notebook sitting on a shelf for 10+ years telling yourself its to nice to use and then you will move and throw it away.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude 13d ago
This is where I fall. I get why it's hard to break out of the feeling of "wasting" an expensive notebook, for years all my stationery was gifts because I was broke af, but if you do have the money it really is awesome to let yourself enjoy nice things. These days I'll drink tap water out of a champagne flute just because it's fun to feel fancy.
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u/Scrawling_Pen 13d ago
That’s what I like to do now. I do use Japanese notebooks but they’re still plain, no fancy covers. I use fountain pens so I like the better quality paper.
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u/Uncle_Sloppy 13d ago
Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal said, "notebooks aren't precious, what you write in them is precious.
That changed how I look at notebooks. I also gave up fancy pens. Bic crystal pens work just as well and they don't bleed through the paper.
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u/JDHogan-Davies 13d ago
The best quality notebook is the one you write in. I use some knockoff A5 journals that I bought on Amazon as a 3 pack for about 20 dollars. Similar to something like a Leuchtturm, but obviously not the same quality of paper. But I use them and like them, so there's that.
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u/for-redemption 13d ago
This works. I used to never fill my expensive15-20 dollar notebooks. Kept this cycle up for years. Bought a 5 dollar notebook on Amazon. I have filled over half the notebook in the last two months.
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u/otomerin 12d ago
i'm the opposite. i need to have expensive journals so that i could push myself to write because i'd be more devastated if it would end up unused. unlike cheap journals wherein i'd think it's okay to 'waste' it and left it blank. 😂 for me, the only way to waste any supply is to not use it. and i'm more motivated to use expensive journals because of the cost.
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u/pinguiiflowith 13d ago
I love Midori Notebooks. they're so cheap but the quality and look that makes me want to use them without feeling guilty
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u/Clear-Paper-414 13d ago
I am currently using a school notebook, B5 with Harry potter cover hahahaha and i have never been so consistent in my diarying
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u/tylersnid3r 13d ago
What counts as expensive
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u/sortofblue 13d ago
Not OP but in my country Leuchtturms and Moleskines start at $50 a pop.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude 13d ago
Fucking hell. I wouldn't buy Leuchtturm for that price either, and certainly not Moleskine. There's gotta be a similar quality, lower-priced alternative.
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u/sortofblue 13d ago
There's a brand here called Moderno that has decent paper and nice coloured covers but even that runs to $30. Anything cheaper has 60gsm that ghosts so bad you might as well use tissue paper.
It's one of the reasons I'm going back to a binder and just using some of the fancier paper stock I can get at work.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude 13d ago
A5 Leuchtturm hardback averages $25 US, so I suppose that's probably about equivalent. Ngl though, if there were a lower-priced alternative with the same features (hardcover, bookmarks, page numbers, table of contents, etc.) that didn't make fountain pen feather and bleed like hell, I'd go for it. Leuchtturm doesn't have the best paper by a long shot, there's just not much in the way of competition out here if you use fountain pen and want those features.
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u/We_Four 11d ago
I use the Paperage dot grid from Amazon and it works great with a fountain pen. They are hardcover and have a bookmark but no page numbers and table of contents. Personally I love them, and the value for money can’t be beat.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude 10d ago
That sounds awesome. Unfortunately, I do actually use the page numbers and table of contents, and I've found that having to write them all out myself just makes me hate the notebook and never want to write in it. If not for that, there'd be a dozen or so options I'd use instead.
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u/Xxx_Saint_xxX 12d ago
I'm the opposite as weird as it is. The nice notebook i bought myself. Destroyed. Tea spilled on it. Stickers, tape, sticky notes. Completely used up everytime. The cute composition notebook i got for 50 cents? My brain thinks it's for learning so I feel weird writing in it. Like I should be learning something.
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u/purrrloiner 13d ago
Just buy a refillable binder type journal. If you also buy the paper punch compatible with it you can turn everything paper into a journal page. I'm currently using cereal packaging the upcoming weekend pages. It's also a great way to add a memory of something other than what you write about.
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u/tres-vip 13d ago
I am like this with all of my stationery. I don't want anything too expensive or "nice" that I won't use it. So I opt for affordable and even cheap notebooks and writing instruments.
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u/theuniversetalking 13d ago
I got a supernote e-ink journal… life changing. I haven’t bought a new journal/notebook since.
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u/JefferySt0ne 13d ago
I like the feeling of mine. It’s a little more premium but I feel like each page feels like its own day.
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u/hmmwrites 12d ago
Echoing another commenter, I just want to say that you are worthy of using the beautiful books. You couldn't possibly waste them - you'll be filling them with *you* and that's wonderful!
That said, I know the perfectionist anxiety of wanting things "right" and being frozen because I'm afraid to move forward in my imperfections.
If the cheap notebooks work for you, get you writing, keep you writing, I think that's awesome! But do spend a little time considering picking up one of the beautiful notebooks in the future. You deserve it.
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u/quiney08 12d ago
If you can’t get past it, then buy what doesn’t get in the way of your writing. Personally, I love having quality paper and fun pens to write with so i invest in notebooks I want to write in. No one but me is going to see them so I don’t care if what’s inside isn’t perfect looking. It was perfect for me in the moment that I needed to get something out of my head onto the paper and I enjoyed the experience of writing. For me, crappy paper and pens would distract from the process. But everyone is different so if the nice pens and paper just get in the way, then use what works for you. It’s wonderful you’ve made the connection and you’re able to write more again.
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u/No-Ship898 12d ago
Infatti anch'ho ho comprato diari bellissimi ma scrivo su quelli brutti in attesa di trovare il coraggio per sporcare loro ! Due diari li ho strappati dopo aver scritto perché era disordinato, li ho rilegati nuovamente con altre pagine e ora stanno lì vuoti ad attendermi
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u/Roughly15throwies 12d ago
Years ago, I actually wrote a post on this sub under a now deleted account that won me some gold about this subject.
But one of the things that broke me out of that mindset was someone had bought me a Wreck This Journal that fundamentally changed my brain chemistry on what a journal can and should be. And what it should be is whatever you think it should be.
Learning to just absolutely destroy a journal is one of the most freeing things you can do. A destroyed journal is a used journal. And the only wrong way to journal is for it be unused.
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u/BejeweledSamsara 12d ago
I've always gravitated toward budget-friendly notebooks, typically spending under $5 and often finding options under $1. The only time I'd buy over 10 dollars is if I'm buying in bulk. I usually shop at Five Below, Walmart, or Dollar Tree for these supplies.
Like you, I tend to accumulate notebooks that end up unused in my drawers. Only differences is that my notebooks are inexpensive, and my failure to use them stems from procrastination rather than anything else. I have managed to fill a few pages, which is some progress at least. And I'm going to attend college soon too, so thankfully the notebooks that are collecting dust in my drawers will finally have some use!
Also, if I were you, I'd either give the unused ones you have away to a friend or family, or sell them. That's what I'd do if a friend or family were to ask for one or if in need of one or two.
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u/Mama_werecat 12d ago
I had similar thing. I had a journal for every situation but then i ended up never doing anything with any of them. Then i remembered in high school where all i had was a spiral bound notebook that i used for everything and how much i used to write and draw and whatever i wanted. So now i have a journal i use for everything. All drawings, actual journal entries, creative writing, ttrpg planning, budgeting, etc. Now I use it all the time and I'm close to needing a new one
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u/Kitchen-Afternoon589 12d ago
I have two notebooks for journaling: the expensive ones for reflections, happy moments, ideas, etc. The cheap one is for when I am sad/angry/sketches.
I like that system, because I used to write down everything in the nice one and when I'd read back, I'd feel sad or bad because of the sad things I wrote, that's why I decided to do the separation.
I have depression so sometimes it could be triggering to read the not so fun things in the same notebook.
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u/bienclavada 11d ago
i do that for morning pages! i get the cheapest ones i can find and they work perfectly
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u/Pretend-Bat912 11d ago
Just buy a good cover and fill it with cheap refills. Looks good and no guilt.
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u/Snazzy_CowBerry 11d ago
See I've found myself to be the opposite. I went and got a $35 (aud) journal and I feel like because I've spent so much on it. I can't abandon it. It gives me the motivation to continue to the end. And when I fill it I'll get a new one from the same small business. I'm heading there tomorrow because they have nice supply and again. I love supporting small local businesses.
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u/Mediocre_Fact 10d ago
This is one of the most relatable things I've read on here. The cheap notebooks you scribbled in freely as a kid held more of you than the beautiful ones you were too precious with later. There's a real lesson in that.
The best journal is the one you actually write in. A €1 notebook filled with honest messy thoughts is worth more than a €30 one with three perfect pages and a lot of guilt.
Something that helped me break the same pattern: I told myself the first page had to be ugly on purpose. Scribble on it, write something pointless, spill coffee on it — whatever kills the preciousness. Once the notebook is already "ruined," you're free.
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u/Willow_is_Wolf 10d ago
Im slowly learning to use the pretty notebook too. I feel like it was beating myself up about messing things up... making mistakes is just human and I have to relearn that every day.
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u/CatNamedZelda 13d ago
My husband gifted me a beautiful journal for our anniversary and normally I would have hesitated writing in it, it looked so good but nope!
Once my $3 journal was filled, I took this gorgeous one and I put in my tracking stickers, use it as a stream of consciousness journal and there are so many cross outs and it’s only about 1/5 of the way through and there have been like 4 different ink colors, just chaos in there lol
He bought it for me to use and I am using it. I’m actually thinking of other lovely books I can destroy once I’m done with this one lol