confessions of a 24 year old moleskine addict...

Yes. 

It is true.

I am addicted to something called the Moleskine.

I started using the Moleskine in May of 2005 when a friend convinced me to purchase one while we were in Washington, D.C.  We were in this quaint little bookshop... I knew all the cool kids were using them... It didn't take much to convince me that I needed one. The Moleskine is legendary, after all. I mean, think of the big names that were users... Hemingway... Picasso... Chatwin... David the Psalmist... (okay, probably not David the Psalmist, but if they had existed he totally would have had one!). I was told a Moleskine would change my life.

It did.

Now here I am, almost 4 years and 7 Moleskines later (would have been 8 if I hadn't been stupid my senior year in college and purchased a random navy, soft leather-bound journal instead). It takes me about 6 months to go through one journal. One day, I will have quite a library... 

There are many different styles of Moleskine out there. I am very particular about mine. I refuse to veer away from the traditional black, hardcover, ruled notebook. I want my collection to be uniform (I learned my lesson with that crazy navy journal...). Yes, I realize that is a bit obsessive-compulsive, but like I said, it is an addiction.

Now on a more serious note (because yes, this post does have a point), I really do love my Moleskine journals. Not only because I love the simple, classy, black leather cover, but because of all that fills them. 

I just spent some time flipping through my journals from the past year & a half. It is absolutely incredible to see some of the blatantly obvious ways God was at work in my life. In these journals, I can look back and see, in my own handwriting, a record of events & prayers & conversations & wishes & pleas & frustrations & answers & choices & movement....  I am able to make connections that I never would have noticed without these records. 

The more I think about it, these journals are probably my most cherished possessions...

Maybe one day I will be able to take this record of my story and turn it into something to publish and share with others. I would say that is a dream of mine...

Or maybe these journals aren't meant to be shared like that... maybe the stories they contain are most effectively shared in the context of relationships...

Regardless of how they may be used in the future, for now I will continue to use them as a record from the past to help me live in the present as I strive to live for eternity. 

(Note: Any other Moleskine users want to go in together and buy in bulk? These things are getting a little pricy! haha)