One Week in My Hobonichi Techo “Planner”

One week in, and I’ve kept my commitment – journaling everyday in my Hobonichi Techo Planner.  I don’t know how I stumbled upon the Hobonichi – maybe through Facebook, possibly through Instagram, either going down a bullet journal internet sink hole, or maybe a Traveler’s Notebook time dump.  I can’t even tell you why I became intrigued with it – I’m not really using it for planning, although I could, but I’d rather not carry my journal around with me; I’ve already lost one Traveler’s Notebook, and that was certainly heartbreaking.  After I decided that I had to have one, well, just because I did, I hemmed and hawed between the A5 larger size and the A6, and settled on the A6.  When I finally had my little book in my hands, I didn’t feel immediately connected to it, I just thought “huh.”  It’s really much smaller than anything I’ve ever written in – it’s the size of a Project Life card, basically.  But, I’m not investing in the bigger one until I at least try this one out, and prove to myself that this is something to which  I do truly want to commit.  If I stop writing in it halfway through February, there will be no larger A5, it’ll be done.  Punished.  No Hobonichi Cousin Avec for me.

So, I did begin in earnest, definitely willing to give this little guy a try.  I ended 2016 with buying a Flow Magazine related product, Project Calm, a magazine that looks exactly like Flow, maybe it’s a special edition?  In any event, I love the illustrations, and the quotes, and the paper, and all of the Flow-y-ness, and the Calm – so every time I turn a page in my journal, I randomly open up my magazine, snip something from the page, tape it down and then I write.  Of course, when I finally get my “flow” going, I’m out of room.  I almost feel like I should start writing on scrap, and then when I get to where I really want to go, and what I really want to talk about, that’s when I should move onto the small 4 x 6 page.  Or, if I’m a good girl, and I write every day, I’ll get to size up!  I guess if I do have a mighty story to tell, I could always add a tip in.  We’ll see.  In the meantime, I’ve become curious about flash fiction, which is a really really short short story.  Project Calm did a piece about these bite sized nuggets of literary goodness, and it seems like the perfect medium to explore when you’re confined to a 4 x6 space.  Skillshare actually has a few classes about the medium, so I’ll give them a listen.

I wish I could say the dieting was going as well as the journaling.  It’s just frustrating.  I was hungry all week, I exercised, I counted my steps, and I moved the scale .2 lbs, and then one small bowl of unbuttered popcorn later, it was back to where I started the week.  And that lead to pizza night Friday, because I was like f-k it.  But, I’m back on the right road – went to the gym this morning and swam, and now I’m eating a lovely salad.  Back in the day, I would just stop drinking, and I’d drop 5-7 lbs.  And certainly, if I stopped drinking AND exercised, well then, we were looking at dropping full pant size in less than 2 weeks.  Those days are gone, my friends.  I just have to keep my head up, and just keep doing the work, I guess.

Doing the work in 2017.  That’s my flash nonfiction or the day.