Mikes Thoughts

Flavors of paper

One of my many envies is for people that can do analog journaling. There is, I believe, a sensuousness and awareness that comes from the act of touching. Feeling how the pen glides and leaves marks behind. I think I’d enjoy that. The problem is not the feelings though for me. It’s the doing of it. I simply cannot do writing any longer. While the inner part would live for and love the sensation, I have to do what I can do and what gives me the words.

Another alternative would be writing in a dedicated app. This crosses to a point I’ve tried many times. I like some of the apps. Some of the note taking apps. Some of the text editors. They are all different takes to me on my most basic writing need. The dedicated app like Day One or Everlog has a continuing fascination for me. I used Day One for years. Everlog more recently. What I found using them is not attraction but in the end separation. They are apart from all the other little things I write. There’s a digital boundary with them of where words go. For me. I want the writing sans analog journaling to be all it can be with still being able to see things I could write. This brings me to one thing I’ve tried many times and ultimately have failed at. I simply cannot do multiple or topical journals. I get tired of the shotgun approach to them.

It’s everything

It has to be all in one and while I’ve tried one big text file and enjoyed it, I truly like the daily journals. They give me the space in markdown for photos. For quotes. For thinking I will remember a thing about a person or a trip or something else in one of these things. That’s doubtful but I can search. The truth is none of this writing is meant to be remembered. I have apps for upcoming trips. For flights. I can write both here and never fear losing them because I don’t need to remember them.

So the idea of specific journals and one file is out. Instead there’s what I do. I just write on a day. Like now it’s before 6am. My little Apple shortcut created a new entry for me. I can just go. There’s no framework. No I do this here and that there. It’s a fucking free for all in this thing. From family to life to coffee. There’s no order. No spacing.

If I wrote this on paper I think I would use different pages in a notebook. Some way of squeezing all this into a physical space. That makes me think of the limits of physical journaling. I only have as many pages as the journal or journal has. Would this tend to limit this scrawl? Yeah. I think so.

Right on with writing on

So instead I always think on writing many different journals. Some would call them topical. It’s always the thinking on it and seeing the sublime smile.

the smile ever

I’ve often thought this photo sums up the feelings. Not happy. Not sad. Any extreme seems to not come to me. Instead I just stay between. Hard to explain to Khmer people so I don’t try. Instead I write to my journal. And I write to the blog. Both never question what I might mean or if I will do or not do a thing or feel a certain way.

There’s my flavors of paper. Just digital sheets though. A place where nothing ventured and nothing gained. All next to each other in plain text. I only need a single thing to write it all. Topics defeat me. Prompts limit me.

So I just write. Enjoy my flavors.