This morning, I woke up with a strong desire for a new planner.
Using a planner of any kind is still a… somewhat new thing for me: usually, I relied on lists ons ticky-notes, Google Calendar updates and pings, and little notebooks full of lists. Up until I became a teacher, that was good enough. I had and have a strong enough memory that few things slipped through the cracks, at least on most days.
But when you’re balancing multiple schools, a new life abroad, a full calendar, and just, like, being an adult… sometimes, you need a bit more. You need something to wrangle all the bullet points and sticky notes and “Hey, let’s hang out”s in your life.
Enter Hobonichi.
I got my first Hobonichi diary planner on my very first birthday. It was their standard A6-size diary-style planner, though I bought it in a set: that meant a cover plus the book insert, along with some goodies. The cover was Earthbound themed despite never having play Earthbound, and is still one of my favorite Hobonichi covers ever, enough that I kept it to be used for future plans.
(And because I’m an Earthbound fan. I don’t believe you have to play something -or engage- directly to be a fan of a thing.)
I later went on to buy a seperate cover -A6-size cover with mushrooms- and then the A5 size Hobonichi Cousin, which is a beast of a planner. This year, I planned to add either another A5 Cousin-size or A6-standard diary to my collection.
…However, this year is also very differnet: there’s a pandemic. Plus… I can’t afford a Hobonichi, especially since shipping would be a beast. (I’m talking minimum $20-$25 on top of paying about $50 for the cover and planner book combined.)
In a big way… I’m kind of upset: I really enjoyed my Hobonichi, and really had been planning to be in a place to buy one this year. But that’s not where I am. So, this morning, with that in mind, I took to Etsy and did some searching… and found a store that’s perfect for my needs: BujoMarks.
BujoMarks has some really, really cute diary planners: so cute, in fact, that I spent a whole 80 minutes looking through all of their designs and bundles and sets and even just single covers. I thought about what themes I might want for the rest of this year or even next years: I brainstormed what matches my wardrobe, what matches my personality: I thought of it all.
And after all my searching, I felt great. As the meme goes, looking at their planners cleared my skin and watered my crops: I feel -and felt- so, so excited to get back to planning and doing calendars like I’m used to.
(Even better? Free shipping. Yes, please!)
There’s not really a reason I chose to share this today: really, I did it because I think part of work -and sharing my work and work life- is sharing the little things that help that work be sustainable. For me, that’s smiling and cooing over some very cute diary planner covers. For me, that’s sharing a neat little store in hopes that someone else will find a smile.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from this year is that time is not promised: if you can, do something small for your regularly. Treat yourself -responsibly, of course- and allow yourself the pleasure of a little something that might sustain you.
For me, that’s this journal… or will be once I decide which one I want. (I’ve got seven in my cart, but… I can only get one. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggh, decisions!)
So go out and do something nice for yourself today: alternatively, do it whenever you see this post.
As always… see you next post. (It’s time for me to make some lunch!)
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Backlit Pixels 