Getting Sucked In to the Traveler’s Notebook Craze, Part 3

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Four months on, I’m using my notebooks regularly and have made them part of my life.

Note: This is part 3 of my Traveler’s Notebook saga. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. – Maria

Time has gone by. I haven’t written much in this blog, mostly because April, May, June, and most of July have been crazy hectic for me. I finally got my boat into San Juan Yachting’s charter program, I made jewelry inventory for and attended four art shows, and I even managed to spend just over two weeks on the boat with a good friend of mine. Along the way, I planted my garden, maintained my vehicles, cared for my home and pups, and socialized with friends.

In other words, I lived a busy life.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Battling Irrational Beliefs

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Some comments related to an excellent blog post about the ABC model of Rational-Emotive Therapy and being a writer.

One of the blogs I’ve included in my RSS feed reader is called Writer Unboxed. It presents anywhere from 5 to 10 blog posts related to writing each week. Some are extremely specific, such as a recent post about including blurbs with published books. Others are more general, such as the one I’m touching upon today, which discusses psychology.

If you’re serious about writing, whether for yourself or for publication and (hopefully) profit, this is a great blog to follow. I won’t say that I read every post in detail, because I don’t. But I find that many of the ones I do read give me lots of food for thought. I usually share my thoughts in a comment on the blog post — that’s why I really like blogs that allow commenting — but sometimes those comments will trigger a blog post here. That’s what happened today.

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Getting Sucked In to the Traveler’s Notebook Craze, Part 2

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I make my own Traveler’s Notebook and fillers — with limited success and lessons learned.

Note: This is part 2 of my Traveler’s Notebook saga. You can find Part 1 here. – Maria

About two weeks ago, I blogged about my attraction to and doubts about the Traveler’s Notebook system. If you didn’t read that post and don’t want to, the very short story is this:

  • Traveler’s Notebooks — originally by Midori, a Japanese company — combine a leather folder-like cover with inserts held in by elastic cords. They are highly flexible, allowing you to build a notebook with the components you need.
  • Traveler’s Notebooks were wildly popular about 10 years ago and still have an almost cult-like following among people who journal or take notes on the go.
  • Traveler’s Notebooks are relatively expensive to set up, but YouTube has dozens of DYI videos to teach you how to make your own.
  • I decided to make my own, following the very detailed instructions in a specific video.

And that’s where I left off. I’ve since made the notebook and started using it. Here’s what I’ve learned.

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On Wasting Time Preaching to People Who Won’t Read What You Write

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I read and skimmed the latest Joan Westenberg blog post and am left wondering two things: are most people as clueless about what’s important in life as she seems to think they are and why is she wasting her time writing pieces they’ll never read?

Although I usually enjoy Joan Westenberg’s blog, reading the first quarter of today’s post reminded me that a lot of people just don’t get it. She’s describing people I know exist — people who focus their lives on trying to impress others or follow the advice of social media “influencers” rather than pursue what really matters in life. I can’t understand or identify with these people and I have to hope that they aren’t as prevalent as she makes it seem.

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Jewelry Studio Tour Video

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I finally create a new jewelry studio tour video.

Now that I’m home more than I’m away, I’ve made some huge improvements to my jewelry studio, getting it better organized and cleaned up and adding a whole classroom area. And, in an effort to attract jewelry making students and other silversmiths to share this space with me, I’ve created a brand new Studio Tour video.

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