My favorite part of working in analog – or living within a hobby like stationery – is greeting new experiences. Each new ink you buy offers a novel color option, and a new writing experience with every pen you put it in. Every new pen offers a unique writing experience with each of the inks in your collection.

Add to pen and ink combinations your paper choices. And nib sizes. Permutations of new experiences – and wonderful discoveries.

Most weeks, pen meets paper in my personal journal three or four times. I wrote an entry every night this week. Six entries is double my usual personal writing.

I’ve journaled regularly for three years. Over that time, I’ve fallen into a system of structuring my entries.

Some pens are perfect right out of the box. Others need some love and attention before they write in a way that brings joy. Still others just never bring joy to your writing, despite functioning well. My Monteverde Giant Sequoia was the latter two.

My partner’s parents moved last week. As a thank you, my father-in-law offered me my choice of pocket notebooks. I put careful thought into three disparate notebook sets: Field Notes Resolution, Story Supply 407, and Baron Fig’s quarterly planner.