One of my favorite facets of the stationery hobby is how granular folks can get about storing, sorting and choosing what they write with. I dig getting lost in the weeds with the systems folks create and participate in. Exploring electronic systems like Fountain Pen Companion and David’s algorithm over at Too Many Pelikans inspired me to create my own databases.

No plan survives the start of teaching. Or writing. Or contact with another person.

Changed plans turn into cross-outs, scrawling new writing over old writing, and migrating notes over and again. Life, and often being productive, is messy. I still struggle to embrace the mess.

Tuesday was a rain day. My first ever rain day. School was cancelled due to expectations of flooding and our governor’s request for non-emergency personnel to stay off the roads. I took the opportunity to build myself a reading day.

I lit a candle. Put on music. Laid my pens and notebooks out. The right setting made my writing and reading mellow, recuperative, and fun. It’s gotta be fun.

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the mnmlscholar. I started this blog to share how I use analog and digital tools to find joy in the work I do. Or, as I predicted in my first post, “this blog is a record of my experiences with analog productivity in a digital world.”

This year has been a rewarding adventure. And a heck of a lot of fun. Thanks for taking this journey with me!