journaling i: what am i using?

Since 2015, I’ve used the Seven Seas Standard as a journal. This absolute brick of a notebook has 480 pages in it. It’s an enormous and humbling undertaking to start writing in the Seven Seas Standard. Does it feel like committing to a long-term relationship? Yes. It took me about a year and a half to two years to finish a single notebook!¹

The Kanso Noto on the left (in a cover), and my three completed Seven Seas Standards on the right.

Though I’ve gone through (almost) three entire Seven Seas Standards at this point, I switched over to the Kanso Noto in the middle of last year—and I’m really enjoying it. I’m not just saying that because I had a hand in designing it (behind the scenes information: I helped pick the cover colors). I do have my reasons.

First, the Kanso Noto has 320 pages of Tomoe River paper in it, which means it’s five millimeters slimmer than the Seven Seas Standard. This doesn’t sound like much, but if you carry the notebook regularly, then the extra width and weight really add up. I keep my journal in my everyday carry bag and its smaller size makes sure there’s room for things like my planner, too.

Second, it has a dot grid. The Seven Seas Standard is a blank notebook (though lined and cross grid versions are available), and I can’t write in a straight line without a helping hand. I printed out a guide sheet, which worked well for a while, but it had one major flaw: I couldn’t see the guide sheet under the page anymore if I added stickers and washi tapes. Which meant that I got really stingy about using stickers and washi tapes! This is a problem that a “deco” hoarder (decoarder?) simply cannot have.

I throw lots and lots of stickers and washi tape at my journal now. Another great thing about a dot grid is that it's very easy to indent your entries!

As an aside, it’s kind of funny how the quirks of your tools can affect the way you approach other tools. After five-ish years of using the Seven Seas Standard, I felt a little… shy? about decorating the pages in my Kanso Noto. I’m pushing myself to use more of my stickers and washi tapes now.

Where was I? Oh, yes. The last reason I switched over to the Kanso Noto was the price. This one’s actually a slightly unrelatable reason, because, well. Being an employee at JetPens, I can occasionally pick up a free Kanso Noto. And free stationery is very, very good stationery. Despite the fact that I’m barely a quarter of the way through my current journal, I already have my second (with new Tomoe River paper) lined up.

I have my Kanso Noto in a Midori MD cover made of goat leather. It arrives a pale pink and will slowly caramelize into a rich brown color, faster if you leave the cover in sunlight or oil it. I take pretty good care of my cover and it doesn't get much sun: I've had it for almost two years now, I think. It's still quite fresh looking, despite the water stain (oops) and the ink smears (uh oh) and some visible pores on the back (that one is actually not my fault—it's real goat leather, and real goats have real pores!).

 

Journaling has been a pretty good habit for me. I don’t write every day, but I do try to write at least a few times a week. It’s a good excuse to bring out your favorite pens and work through the backlog of ink. It’s still early in the year, and if your resolution was to write more… the only way to get there is to start.

Some items used in the above spread are:

• Bande Mushroom Washi Tape Sticker Roll
• Bande Mini Flower Washi Tape Sticker Roll
• Bande Toast Washi Tape Sticker Roll

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1. It would be pretty rude of me if I didn’t mention Mary Collis and her posts about using the Seven Seas notebooks since 2015. Ten journals and counting! You go, Mary. ↩︎