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Monday, November 9, 2015

Too Many Journals?

I'm always on the look out for a new journal. Not that I keep a journal per se. I do keep a gratitude journal where I write down at least 3 things every night before I go to bed that I'm grateful for that day. But keeping a record or an every day accounting of my day or week, I've never been very good at doing that.

I use journals to jot down story ideas, separate journals for characters, scenes, and ideas for each book I plan to write or am currently writing. I have one that's full of quotes that I've collected over the years. I must have at least 10 or 12 journals that I haven't used and yet, whenever someone asks what I'd like for a gift, I always include a journal as an option. And I hate to admit it, but I have a few that I don't think I'll ever use. They're so beautiful that I want to keep them looking fresh and new.

I have one that my nephew's fiancee gave me that's made of elephant manure. Sounds weird, but it's actually one of the most unique gifts I've ever received. The elephant manure is gathered from elephant sanctuaries in Thailand. The manure is then cleaned of anything that isn't fibrous material, then boiled for 4 to 6 hours in extremely hot water to ensure any bacteria is destroyed. It's then blended with other fibrous material such as corn stalks, pressed into paper screens to form the sheets, then laid in the sun for several hours until it's dried. It's then cut and bound into various paper items. (I got all this information from a card that came with the journal.) I display it on my coffee table. While I don't think I'll ever use it for its intended purpose, it's definitely a conversation starter.

Do you find yourself collecting journals or other items that you already have more than enough of?

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