It’s All Write!

There comes a point in one’s life when a new year is just another year. There’s no thrill or excitement or anticipation of what the next twelve months may bring. It’s more of a heigh-ho-it’s home-to-work- we- go kind of a feeling and the calendar will have already been scanned for the holidays and the days on which they will fall. (January has only two)

But there’s one thing about a new year that still manages to stir my jaded soul- and that’s the feel of opening a brand new diary or journal and writing in it. I love putting pen to paper and caressing the pages with the ink as it flows from the point of the pen and settles between the lines to form the words of my choice. I want to keep writing so that the pages are filled with profound thoughts, wise words and interesting images (I can’t draw even stick figures so I have always relied on words to create pictures). And no, I have never, ever kept a Dear Diary- so the possibility of my publishing a Diary of a Nobody and becoming famous is highly unlikely.

What I did do- was use my diaries as spaces where I wrote, collected and complied selected paragraphs (sometimes entire chapters) from my favourite books, verses from poems (yes, also entire poems), lyrics from songs (yes, yes also entire etc etc, you get my drift). There were quotes, jokes and even information taken from reference books and encyclopedias. This was before computers, internet and smartphones, before the keyboards and touch screens insidiously took over our lives and took away the pleasure of forming our own letters and words. Those were days when books were not easy to come by or buy. Libraries were sniffy about the number of books they would issue and even more sniffy about getting them back on time. So, what was an impecunious student to do? Write down whatever she liked in a book, before returning it with the utmost reluctance! I have filled pages with all the curses used by Captain Haddock during his adventures with Tintin. When I was going through my Billy Bunter phase I had gleefully listed the names he was called by his ‘chums’ of the Remove. “You fat, frabjous, footling, foozling Owl.” was an oft repeated one. To this day I have no idea what the words meant. Oh, and body-shaming much?

Once I got gainfully employed, the diaries became more utilitarian. There were notes from meetings, unending to-dos, jottings, even rough lesson plans. But old habits die hard so I continued to scribble and scatter the pages with quotes, references and verses. They were now moved to the margins or found place in the last pages. But they survived. Like flowers among the work-weeds. And they livened up many a dull working period by popping up unexpectedly and making me smile or just remember and reflect. I think the pleasure of reading these little tidbits equals the pleasure of writing them down.

So, 2021 is here and I’m ready with a new diary. I’ve written down a wonderfully evocative poem by C.S Lewis on the first page and have made myself a cute, colourful bookmark by cutting out a part of last year’s calendar; made by one of my favourite illustrators. The remaining pages are blank and this year, I really, REALLY hope to fill them with happy thoughts, cheerful quotes and fun images made with upbeat words. Along with some work-related stuff, of course!

(https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/c-s-lewiss-poem-what-the-bird-said-early-in-the-year/)