I’ve been thinking about what it’s like to be a notebook addict when you’re a kid vs. as an adult. I know this site has some teenage readers, and I sometimes hear from parents whose kids love notebooks. I myself was obsessed with notebooks before I even knew how to write– I recently found an old photo of myself at about the age of 3, clutching a little folded booklet of paper, with a big smile on my face!
But the difference between my childhood and now, in terms of notebook addiction, is who controlled how many I could buy and how they were paid for! When I was a kid, I had to save my tiny allowance, or beg my parents to buy me a notebook. I have notebooks that I bought in the late 1970s for 25 cents when that was my entire week’s allowance– choosing those notebooks meant no candy!
Nowadays I see a lot of teens posting photos of notebooks and journals and pens and art supplies, and I wonder how they are able to buy them! Bullet journaling seems to be quite a fad among young people, with a huge social media presence, so that must stoke quite a desire in kids to own the latest and greatest supplies that will look cool on Instagram. When I was a kid there was no social media, but there was still peer pressure which fed one big notebook-related fad I can remember– the fancy hardcover Nothing Book. “Everybody” had one, so I wanted one, I begged for one, and I did eventually get one. It cost $2. Stickers were also popular in the early ’80s, but I think you could get a strip of several stickers for 50 cents or maybe a dollar. And Trapper Keepers were very popular, but they were around $5 in those days. Even with inflation, that would only be around $13 in today’s dollars.
Today, if teens are really into Bullet journaling, Hobonichi planners, washi tape, and fountain pens, all this stuff can easily add up to hundreds of dollars. Many parents are probably happy to support their children’s creativity and study habits, but where do they draw the line on expense? What if they just can’t afford it?
I also see a lot of students posting images of notebooks and fountain pens in relation to their classroom note-taking. College was another danger zone for my notebook addiction– away from home for the first time, journaling like crazy as I tried to understand all the changes going on in my life, and newly possessing a credit card and a charge account at the college bookstore. I definitely spent some money I shouldn’t have to buy cute notebooks that weren’t necessary, in addition to quite expensive art supplies and lab notebooks that were required for my classes. Again, there was no social media to make me dream of having beautiful notes that looked a certain way, with fancy tools required to create them. Today’s students must either have a lot more money than I did, a lot more debt than I did, or they are managing to make enough money via social media sponsorships that they can afford these things!
Today’s kids not only have social media to build the craving, they also have access to online shopping for instant gratification. If I didn’t see notebooks at the local five and ten store, I didn’t know they existed and therefore had no desire to buy them. Or maybe I saw something another kid brought back from a school trip to France and coveted it– but I knew there was no way I could buy it myself, so I got over it. Now it’s so easy to order things from London or Japan– if you even need to, since Amazon probably has it and can deliver it to you in 2 days.
As an adult, I’ve been lucky enough to have good jobs and haven’t had to worry too much about being able to afford to buy the notebooks I want. Other than a few Filofaxes and leather notebooks, most of the notebooks I’ve ever wanted have been under $15 anyway, and many of the Moleskines I’ve hoarded for myself have been bought on eBay for under $10. I still try to be conscious of not hoarding too much, and limiting expensive items, though my growing interest in fountain pens is making that a challenge! I also have the excuse of writing this blog, which manages to cover the costs of my notebooks via affiliate ads, not to mention the occasional free sample. But if my childhood self could see me and my notebooks now, she’d be so jealous! (She also wouldn’t believe I’m allowed to eat at McDonalds whenever I want, and watch Three’s Company.)
In talking about social media stoking these desires to own stuff, I realize I’m part of the problem! I love sharing my passion for notebooks and my favorite comments and emails are from people who say that finding my site made them realize they are not alone in their weird obsession with notebooks. But even if I’m trying to focus on the qualities of notebooks rather than quantities of notebooks, I’m blogging about stuff that costs money, participating in marketing and advertising that makes people covet stuff that they don’t necessarily need. Would my childhood self feel happy and inspired by reading this site and knowing she wasn’t all that weird? Or would she be miserable and driving her parents crazy with constant requests to buy expensive notebooks and pens that look so cool when everyone else uses them?
I hope it’s the former, and if you are a kid reading this site, I hope you understand that even if it’s fun to swoon over towering piles of beautiful notebooks, what’s more important is all the possibilities and potential for creativity and expression that exist even in a tiny homemade notebook stapled together from a few scraps of paper. I have to remind myself sometimes too!
