Moving Forward a Little at a Time

I have an unusual work week. I work Wednesday through Sunday, so when most of the world is heading back to their “traditional” work weeks I am settling down to my weekly rest. (I did work a Friday through Tuesday week for a good chunk of 2022 and Friday really makes for a weird “Monday”). My weekend starts when the calendar week starts in my little Hobonichi A6 weekly insert. I started carrying one in my traveler’s notebook in 2018 or 2019 (can’t remember!) and used it as a traditional planner at first (to-do lists, appointments, work schedule, etc.) However, in 2020, that changed. I switched from planning to record keeping.

I struggle with depression (MDD) and I often felt like I was never accomplishing anything which, of course, did not help with the moods. The change was simple, instead of planning what I thought I wanted to do, I started recording what I did do. Even on days where everything was hard I had a record of little accomplishments (which ended up leading to some big ones). It’s a practice that I’ve kept up so that when I sit down for my weekly reflection (another practice I’ve been doing since 2019 - this year in an Odyssey Notebook Cosmo Air Light volume) I can remember what I did, even if all I managed to do was the dishes on a particularly bad day. An accomplishment can even be reading, if that’s what I set out to do. Little wins matter. Even a little bit is progress in my book. I’ve actually written more in the past few years than I did in a long time because I only focused on a page at a time (which sometimes led to just one more and then one more, on and on). With a few external deadlines giving me a kick in the pants, like my workshop, I’ve published quite a few stories.

Recording things as I do them also give me a fun little booklet at the end of each year full of my ink choices. Flipping back through them is not only a list of little accomplishments, it’s also a journey through living life and engaging with my favorite hobby.

Currently Inked

Ferris Wheel Press Oyster Hour - Kaweco Liliput green B premium - I love the form of the Kaweco liliput. At a pen meetup I was chatting with a gentleman who called them “fascinating little objects” and I couldn’t agree more. I really hope Kaweco continues with more colorful editions of the liliput - it ticks all the boxes me as a lover of tiny things. Oyster Hour has been a driving force behind a lit of my work scribbling this week. Getting close to the end of the fill and will be mixing it up soon.

Diamine Deck the Halls - Kaweco Sport Machiatto 1.5 - Still rocking this sparkly purple for headers. This is my third oldest Kaweco and my first solid-color one. Fun story - I had to do my first General Delivery order when I moved to Yosemite, California for a summer. There’s a post office near the national park visitor center (which was also by my office there). It was the year I was really getting into inks, and decided I wanted a new pen to enjoy summer work scribbling.

Ferris Wheel Press Velvet Ballet - Kaweco Sport Burgundy B - Another work brainstorm driver this week along with being the focus of my first stab at doing an ink review (coming soon). Interestingly, this pen took a while to grow on me. It was my first B nib that I got at my first visit to the Colorado Pen Show in 2018. I was into crazy colored inks at the time and this colorway just does better with sober tones.

Ferris Wheel Press Stroke of Midnight - Kaweco Liliput copper 14K B - Speaking of sober tones, I ran out of this ink at some point last week and decided to ink it up again over my weekend. I love blue inks and they make up the biggest chunk of my ink collection. This ink is just hitting the spot right now with its subtle shimmer and deep blue.

Diamine Best Wishes (Inkvent 2022) - Kaweco Liliput fireblue 14K M “journaler” - I have been chomping at the bit to try this ink out ever since I did the initial swatch back in December. Based on the past Invents I knew the final color would be green and I worried it wouldn’t be for me. I’m not the biggest fan of green inks and have somehow ended up with quite a few due to there often being greens included in sets. Green-black is a green I am fond of and this one is wonderful. I’m really enjoying this one and have been driving my story writing with it for the last few days.

Notebooks/Paper

I have done a lot of work on a square Rhodia pad with grid paper this week. I’m already thinking ahead to the summer season at work and needing to do a lot of brainstorming. The Rhodia pads are solid and utilitarian and I find them really useful at work. They are a good price and I’m not going to be precious about the sheets and if a coworker borrows some.

I wasn’t planning on buying any more stationery-related things until the Chicago Pen Show in May (my first pen show in five years - so excited!), however, my roommate needed some notebooks and I decided to throw in a few packs of Cosmo Air Light paper since it’s being discontinued. I have recently discovered that I can print on that paper and it has opened a world of opportunity for printables. I am enjoying the 3 mm grid in my A6 cafe notes and printed a similar grid onto some Cosmo Air Light paper for story writing. I’m also eagerly awaiting a pack of the Iroful paper that has recently appeared in some shops. I have a drawer full of different papers and look forward to filling them with words.

Re-creating my Creative Space

It’s winter in northern Minnesota… and thus I must make do with artificial lighting :P

My desk area got an overhaul this week. I am in the midst of painting and finally got to my workspace! I’ve been sitting on a few pieces of artwork and was waiting until I painted to hang them up, like the letterpress drawer that I picked up at a local antique show. It had been sitting in a corner for nearly 3 months, but is now starting to display my ink collection.

Total Light Academia vibes.