I feel excited when a new notebook enters the game. This was a banner week as two new notebooks have entered the game: a new personal journal and a new teaching bullet journal. New notebooks are wonderful and intimidating prospects. Because empty notebooks begin the fun process of deciding.

I am beginning to settle into my new home post-move. Now is a great opportunity to reflect on how I’ve kept tabs on myself between January and July. I’m thinking critically about my organizational habits — before I restart writing, lesson planning, and running life this week. En otro vez: what’s working with my Hobonichi Day-Free?

I feel guilty cleaning out a pen that still has ink in it. The value of ink maximalism abounds in our shared online spaces. That intention to squeeze every ml of value out of the expensive colored liquids we fill our pens with seems to resonate with a lot of people.

I’m thinking philosophically as I rethink my mostly-full currently inked for next week. When is a pen empty?

The energy for personal writing proved lacking. I know, rationally, that comparing quantities of journaling across weeks is unfair. For me: successful journaling is about starting again — whenever “again” happens to be.