Vitamin Journal

My aunt gave me a paper journal for my birthday. At first I was a bit gun-shy - I've spent so long in the electronic world of writing!

But then, as I looked at the perfectly-chosen journal (black, slick, spiral-bound, with pages edged in multi-color), I felt that nearly-buried twinge of excitement that comes from owning a book, all to myself, intended solely for my own words to fill. My aunt had written a little prologue in the book, encouraging me to try my hand at poetry again (it's been so long!), and I do believe that I will. I'm excited to remember my old love, that of penning words with real ink - a different kind of contact sport than writing with a keyboard and a computer. I'm excited to fill something tangible, rather than simply adding more size to a file stored in a computer that I'll never print. Writing in a paper journal feels more like publication, because I'm actually dealing with the raw elements of traditional publication instead of with pixels and megabytes and electricity. I can't wait to explore it again!

Stay tuned for snippets from what I create ... or maybe ... don't stay tuned. Again, that's another sweet difference between paper writing and electronic composition: The opportunity for others' voyeurism. Maybe it would be good for me to simply bask in the simplicity, the quiet, the solitude of a journal intended just for me. Maybe it would encourage me to a new kind of greatness. And then, if perhaps I do share portions of my journal ... the sharing will be more treasured, more poignant, more real. We shall see. For now, I'm just happy to have this simple, thoughtfully given, possession. I can't wait to make it more mine with a few well-chosen lines on its first page. I can't wait 'til it becomes my old friend.