The Moleskine Notebook

I think every creative finds inspiration in the fresh tools of their trade. A painter may love the feel of new paintbrushes or a new canvas. A musician may love new strings on a guitar or the way the piano keys feel on their fingers. A gardener may love the scent of freshly cut grass and the feel of soil being moving between their fingers. A chef may love fresh ingredients and a particularly special pot or pan. A photographer may love a special old camera, a new lens or the process of watching film develop.

Ask a writer about the sorts of things that can enhance or inspire their writing and included in this answer will be things like new pens, new pencils, fresh notebooks or paper, new journals, the smell of new stationary, the smell of new books. Personally, I don't think there is anything better than a fresh journal and a good pen (medium point!). Albeit most of my writing is done on the computer, it is a different experience to record my thoughts and feelings with pen on paper. In fact, I have about 15 years' worth of writing in journals. And while I don’t journal as much as I used to, I still love having nice notebooks for both journaling and just general list making and notes to self.

Last Christmas my dear friend Kim gave me a set of Moleskine notebooks. These plain looking beige notebooks are just that - basic ruled notebooks. While they may appear to be “Plain Jane” wallflower journals, they are anything but regular old notebooks. From the texture of the cover (feeling both smooth and unprocessed at the same time) to the silky smooth inside pages, they were the perfect size to keep with me in any bag, allowing me to always have a book to record anything, anytime...things to do, thoughts, reminders, grocery lists, budgets, etc. Lots of lists for sure! Needless to say, they did not last me long. So recently, while stopping in at the Book Warehouse looking for blank stationary, I came across my newly beloved notebooks. This time in a new colour – red! I had to have them and so proceeded to treat myself to a three pack. How do I describe the joy it gives me to have nice fresh journals? It is even difficult to actually break down and write in them, so pristine they are having been untouched and unspoiled by the pen. But then, what are they for? So after opening the packaging, I found inside the below insert. It gave me an even greater thrill to think that I am writing in the same notebooks as some of the world’s greatest thinkers and creators once wrote in.

"The history of a legendary notebook"

"Moleskine* is the heir of the legendary notebook used for the past two centuries by great artists and thinkers, including Vincent Van Gough, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin. This trusty pocket-sized travel companion held their sketches, notes, stories, and ideas before they became famous images or beloved books."

To paraphrase now, Chatwin nicknamed the notebooks “Moleskine” in his book “Songlines”. In 1986 the original manufacturer closed down forever. Chatwin proceeded to buy all the Moleskines he could find, but it wasn’t enough. In 1998 a Milanese publisher brought the notebook back to life under the name “Moleskine.”

“As the reverent keeper of an extraordinary tradition, the legendary notebook once again began travelling the globe. Capturing reality on the move, preserving details, impressing the unique aspects of experience upon paper: Moleskine is a reservoir of ideas and feelings, a battery that stores discoveries and perception without depletion.”

I am now even more inspired by these brilliantly simple little notebooks.