The Power of Keeping a Journal or How to Cultivate Talking to Yourself

I won­der if I shall burn this sheet of paper like most oth­ers I have begun in the same way. To write a diary, I have thought of very often at far and near dis­tances of time: but how could I write a diary with­out throw­ing upon paper my thoughts, all my thoughts — the thoughts of my heart as well as of my head? — & then how could I bear to look on them after they were written? Adam made fig leaves necessary for the mind, as well as for the body. And such a mind as I have! - Emily Barrett Browning

Beginning in third grade, I developed the fortunate habit of keeping a journal. It began with the receipt of a blank lined book for my birthday that had a floral design on the padded cover resulting in a pleasantly squishy give when I wrote in it. At the time, I must have read something that influenced my first entries, as I began them all with “Dear Diary” in my carefully printed and childishly round handwriting. The formal salutation was something I didn’t change until high school, and I remember it initially felt strange to leave it out (although way more mature) and just start writing on the page after putting the date on the paper. I now understand that the greeting of Dear Diary, no matter how cliché, gives permission to confide in the paper, to have a conversation about the markedly interesting or pressing things that are taking over that moment in time. (For instance, in 3rd grade this involved my desire to get a Koosh™ ball for Christmas, and later in 6th grade, the day that one of my friend's older sisters swore at the bus stop, calling someone a "bitch" which was a really big deal at the time.)

I can’t imagine not having a journal. That is how deeply ingrained this habit of personal writing is. I get antsy if for some reason too much time goes by where I don’t sit down and write—or as I think of it “catch up with myself.” Withdrawal usually kicks in at two weeks. If I am traveling and don’t take my journal with me, I write on hotel stationery (or any paper I can find) and paste them in later.

I don’t write formally. And it is certainly not premeditated. It is a splash of words that come in the moment, my collection of thoughts from a certain event, idea or place. Sometimes I try and capture what I am writing in great detail, but more often than not I write as though I am sending a letter to myself. This other self that I write to apparently has great tolerance for emotions (without needing a lot of background), the banalities of everyday (I like to write when I am cozy), and much talk of my goals and wishes (without detailed project plans.)

But perhaps one of the most important things that has come out of my journaling is a connection with my inner voice. When I go back and reread entries—something that I do occasionally or when I am looking to remember a detail or emotion from a certain time—I think, Wow, who wrote this? Did I really understand all that at the time? I want to be like this person! At my yoga center, they call this inner voice your True Self. My True Self apparently likes to communicate through writing and re-reading journal entries, and sounds calm, collected, confident and most of the things I don’t feel when I am sitting down pouring my heart out via words on the page.

Julia Cameron documents the power of tapping into your True Self through in her famous creativity book The Artist’s Way. Cameron’s Morning Pages, which are different from journaling but share some of the same aspects, are a key tool for taping into our natural tendency for creative thinking. While Morning Pages and the resulting ideas, conversations, etc. always seem to involve a little bit of magic they are the result of dedicating time to write, and writing without judgment.

Journaling is different than keeping a diary, and for me more liberating. A diary is traditionally viewed as a daily record of one’s everyday activities whereas a journal is not restricted to rigorous time keeping and can be kept on any subject, hence labels such as “dream diary” vs. “travel journal.” Morning Pages, are decidedly less formal and are a “brain dump” of your immediate thoughts onto the page. One of their key components is routine and after time this can create a special creative time and space to play with ideas.

As a creative thinking tool a journal (or the less formal tool of Morning Pages) is incredibly powerful and valuable. Not only can you cultivate the habit of putting pen to paper and capturing your thoughts, but you give your brain a chance to fully disclose all the stuff it rambles on (or stage whispers) about non-stop during the day. The added benefit of these thoughts making it to paper is that they then become a conversation. This can lead to better understanding of a thought or emotion, or ideas and solutions. For instance, the constant critiquing of your body may become a written dialogue about how work is boring, or that you don’t feel very powerful and that it may be a good time to get a gym membership or study a martial art.

If you have not ever kept a journal, I highly recommend starting. It is an amazing creative tool to have, although it can be difficult to stick to and/or sometimes even begin—as can religiously doing Morning Pages. (On the other hand, for some people it is instantly addicting.) One concern that everyone faces is that of putting their inner most thoughts on paper. Whether it is a fear of the thought becoming more real once it is written, or worse, that someone will read our inner most thoughts, we have the preconceived notion that putting something on paper makes it official. I am happy to say that this is not true. Writing something down gives us the space to have a conversation about it (with ourselves), or get our mind out of the record groove that it may be stuck on.

As for finding the security and safety to write without the fear of someone reading the pages, I feel that is a basic and very important personal creative right. A sense of safety is something that all creatives need to bring their ideas into being. With something less formal, like Morning Pages, you have the option to destroy them after writing (especially if you are just doing a “brain dump”). If you are writing for posterity, or want to have your journal or Morning Pages as a reference, then the people in your life should know they are a sacred space.

I believe that journals are (casual yet) sacred spaces. They are for us to write in now and learn from ourselves. And later, if we want to share them, they can be for someone else to learn of our lifetime and our wisdom.

A little extra:
• To cultivate the habit of journaling, make sure to find a journal that you love to write in. What is your purpose of journaling? Are you writing for your own insight and ideas or for posterity? Knowing why you want to keep a journal will help you select the best one for your purpose. One of my favorite companies for journal is Graphic Image, they are all acid free and highly durable. Levenger’s also has a great ledger and a 5 year diary, if you want to start small or track ideas or events daily.
• In addition to knowing what kind of journal you want to keep, you can develop your writing style. If you are writing for memory, then make sure to capture in writing all of your senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, sound. If you are writing for your eyes only, then practice writing without judging. A good book (very deep) on journaling is A Life’s Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest by Christina Baldwin.
• If this is a new habit, make sure to dedicate time to write in your journal. Part of the magic of Morning Pages is that your mind is still waking up. For those of us (me included) who are not morning people, writing before bed or during a quite space on the weekend can be as effective. Creativity as a skill loves routine.
• Famous journalers include John Adams and Louisa May Alcott, whose journals provided her with the material (almost page for page) for her famous book Little Women.

Using a Sketchbook Commonplace Book to Jump Start Your Creative Thinking

The summer semester of Creative Thinking is coming. With only four weeks until class, my wintery and myopic mind, preoccupied with work and dulled by the grind of the New England weather, has finally bloomed and started to look forward to the horizon like a sailor in the crows nest.

With the fire of teaching rekindled in me, I take stock of the syllabus and begin some tinkering. I keep the general format of the class and the core lessons, but I tighten and hone the information that enhances them. While I am looking forward, I also look back and review a few things that struck me about the last couple semesters. From here I brainstorm on what I can introduce or communicate better to give the students more tools, information or interpretations to make the experience more dynamic and effective.

My post-mortem introspection of the fall semester, coinciding with some mind-blowing reading of Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From, actually presented me with a new way of presenting one of the core tools in the class. As it so happens to also be a very important paper-based idea connector (of which I can’t overstate the importance to creative thinking) I thought I would assemble my thoughts here and test them in the wild. Which is why this long promised blog post is about a key creativity tool: Commonplace Books.

In the large and detailed document that is the class syllabus there is a list of supplies that the students must have for the class. One of these is “a sketchbook roughly 9 x 12.” By the second class I notice that two camps form: students who embrace the sketchbook as though they have been looking for permission (or an excuse) to buy one and carry it around; and students who only bring a sketchbook to class when required. In lieu of a sketchbook as a constant companion, this group likes ruled notebook paper, small lined journals, and other structured note-taking items that have lines, margins, and generally no really great place to let your mind wander.

It is important to mention here, that I have no bias against how the students are taking notes in the class or using note paper or their sketchbooks. My main focus is that the information is engaging, that it helps them learn, and they have a place to capture their thoughts. To a certain extent though, from my perspective as a teacher, that requires the right tools. Through the last few semesters, I have begun to pick up on an increased level of “Why do I need a sketchbook?” or even as I was asked one time after class “How do I use a sketchbook?” (which is a completely valid question.)

I have come to realize that to a group of highly intellectual and analytical graduate students a sketchbook is an oddity. It was something that some of them had never worked in or owned before, and many believed that sketchbooks are solely for sketching. I understand that this makes it a discerning object, especially if drawing as a form of self expression is not your forte.

Even more "terrifying" is that which also makes the sketchbook so great---finger-flip after finger-flip of blank pages. No lines running right to left to tell you where to start and keep your writing. No lines to sever illustrations or charts. No margins to keep everything framed and boxed in. Just blank pages that can be filled with a little, or a lot. Categorized however you deem to place the information. Diagonal writing, full bleed images, illustrations and text, just images, cut outs, sketches, collage, lists, ideas…there is nothing that can’t go into a sketchbook—that wild white abyss—and become a testament to your creating something new and unique centered around a single theme or a testament to your exploration of ideas.

Also, without lines, the possibility exists that the true nature of your crooked handwriting is revealed and with it—the freedom to create mind maps and integrate other images and things that you may discover your mind likes to read much better—and, most importantly, sparks ideas from the randomness and spontaneous placement of the gathered information.

Which brings me to commonplace books and why I am going to begin the summer semester by making the disclaimer that the Sketchbook tool for the class is really a Commonplace Book—a place to gather ideas. To integrate mediums, to take notes, draw mind maps, do musical interpretation exercises, list things, etc.

Commonplace books date back to the late 15th century Europe and played a key part in the intellectual ideas of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Key thinkers used common place books with the goal of nurturing focused thought and logic to lead humankind away from superstition and old traditions (ultimately this thinking leading to the ideas that inspired the American and French Revolution). Commonplace books were also a way for the people of the time to deal with information overload. Similar to our fascination and frustration with the Internet now, the invention of the printing press provided a never before seen amount of information in the form of books and pamphlets. The information would be amassed (through copying or pasting) by scholars and thinkers into their commonplace books and interspersed with personal thoughts, quotes from letters, illustrations and other relevant information that related to the owner’s passion or the theme of the commonplace book.

Commonplace books also by their very nature integrate two of the most essential elements of learning and mentally processing information: reading and writing. By arranging and commenting on the information gathered in a commonplace book, not only are reading and writing a continuous joint effort for understanding the world, but the information also comes together in a unique way to spark new ideas. Johnson discusses how the commonplace book plays an important part in “the slow hunch.” As the owner of the commonplace book rereads or browses all of the information, the lack of organization leads to a more organic and powerful source for fostering ideas or sparking the final “ah ha” of a hunch. Johnson recommends, “Imposing too much order runs the risk of orphaning a promising hunch in a larger project that has died, and it makes it difficult for those ideas to mingle and breed when you revisit them. You need a system for capturing hunches, but not necessarily categorizing them, because categories can build barriers between disparate ideas, restrict them to their own conceptual islands.”

This organic, intensely unique, idea-sparking book is the special roll that a sketchbook can play when it becomes a commonplace book.

A little extra:
• Commonplace books can contain any assortment of information, from ideas to observations, from recipes to photos and scraps of textiles. The most important thing is that you have a place to capture and integrate items that spark your thinking.
• Commonplace books are essentially sketchbooks, just customized with information rather than sketches. So you have lots of styles to choose from. Just remember that the most important thing is to get started and then, as your common place books grow, figure out what are the elements (size, shape, paper weight and texture) that help you work best.
• Commonplace books have been at the side of some of the world’s greatest thinkers: Darwin, Francis Bacon, John Locke, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau to name a few.
• In recent literature, Klaus Baudelaire, of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events keeps a commonplace book.
• For more information on ideas and the role of commonplace books, I highly recommend Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From. Also wiki is a great source of information to get you started if you want a more detailed history.

Letters, Part II: Inspiration for Writing Letters

“We know that all things of concern to us are of equal concern to Mary [the author of the letter], and though there will be nothing of it in actual words, we are made to feel that we are just as secure in our corner of Mary's heart as ever we were.” –Emily Post, Etiquette, from the section The Letter Everyone Loves to Receive

This past December, through a stroke of good luck, I found a copy of a wonderful little book called Frost’s Original Letter Writer. Published in 1867, the archaic volume was tucked sideways into a random bookshelf in one of the many generously merchandised booths of Black Diamond Antiques in Frackville, Pennsylvania. The slim and fragile book was held closed by a faded pink and lace ribbon and with one glance at the title, I knew that I had found a “diamond in the rough” for my small collection of books that inspire me towards letter writing.

There are many things that I find charming about my copy of Frost’s Original Letter Writer. At one time the book was the property of a “Master Boyd Cherry presented to him by his Uncle Alfred,” as indicated by the penciled inscription on the title page. The back cover reveals a long list of other publications which are advertised under the heading: “Good Books Sent Free of Postage at the Prices Marked” with titles such as: How to Shine in Society; Dick’s Quadrille Call-Book and Ball-Room Prompter; and Boxing Made Easy.

But what I like most about Frost’s Original Letter Writer (full title: Frost’s Original Letter Writer a complete collection of Original Letters and Notes Upon Every Imaginable Subject of Everyday Life, with Plain Directions about Everything Connected with Writing a Letter) is that it indicates that even in a time when letter writing was the accepted and popular (read: only) means of communication, that people still sought out inspiration and instructions on how to write a letter and/or respond to one.

In my last post, I wrote about the legacy that letter writing creates, and the fact that through emails, text messages, and many other forms of modern technology-driven communication, we have an everyday familiarity with the written word that can easily be translated to paper to build better relationships and make lasting impressions. Unlike the interruption of a phone call, letters and notes have the advantage of being a way to connect with people on their own time, creating space for communication within a busy schedule.

But what do you do if the idea of writing a letter is still intimidating?

The good news is that the antiquated volume of Frost’s Original Letter Writer is just one of many books on letter writing with advice, and sometimes the complete text, to help inspire your correspondence. Since my time at Crane & Co., I have collected books on letter writing and etiquette, both for inspiration as well as to satisfy my historical curiosity. Each of them has a special place in my heart, but all of them offer, in their own unique way, a perspective and advice on letter writing that encourages me to pick up my pen.

While also from an earlier era, one of my favorite inspirations for good form in my letter writing is the original 1922 version of Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, by Emily Post. In this classic text, which is delightful to read due to Ms. Post’s straightforward advice and perspective, the author separates the basics of correspondence and “bread and butter letters” from “long letters,” giving each a unique chapter in the book.

It is in the chapter “Longer Letters” that she addresses the challenges of beginning a letter, and (one of my guilty correspondence sins) the fact that your response is usually is so long in being formulated that it must begin with an apology. Also in this chapter, the criminal classes of long letters are identified: Letters No One Cares to Read; Letters of Gloomy Apprehension; Letters of Petty Misfortunes; The Blank; The Meandering Letter; The Letter of Chronic Apology; The Dangerous Letter; The Letter that No Woman Should Ever Write, etc. Through these Emily Post illustrates not only ways to be aware of and avoid these letters, but on a deeper level identifies communication habits to steer clear of, whether it’s in a letter or verbal exchange.

Her best advice though comes in the section, The Letter Everyone Loves to Receive: “The letter we all love to receive is one that carries so much of the writer’s personality that she seems to be sitting beside us, looking at us directly and talking just as she really would, ….There is a great deal in the letter about [the author], not only about what she has been doing, but what she has been thinking, or perhaps feeling. And there is a lot about us in the letter—nice things that make us feel rather pleased about something that we have done, or are likely to do, or that some one has said about us.”

While I have a strong affection for the advice of the past, I am also a modern girl with a blog, a huge stash of stationery, and a busy schedule. The book that I turn to the most to inspire sitting down to my correspondence is The Pleasures of Staying in Touch: Writing Memorable Letters by Jennifer Williams. The book meditates on the joys of receiving a letter through quotes and stories as well as provides inspiration on social correspondence.

My favorite chapter is Staying in Touch with the World: Letters of Admiration, Letters of Complaint, Letters to Magazines, Alumnae Newsletters and More. In this chapter, the notion of writing letters is moved beyond the social bread-and-butter correspondence or the romantic long letter, to focus on letters that are often over looked when we think of letter writing: Public Letters. These are letters to public figures, editors, or authors, that allow you to give voice to an opinion, participate in a dialogue, and “stake your claim” in the world. “The expression of a personal opinion is just as important an act of connection as it is to vote…No matter how elusive or complex a public concern or debate may be, it always helps to ‘put a human face’ on it,” Williams writes.

Writing a letter has many benefits, from expressing your feelings to capturing a moment in time. Whether you want to turn to the pages of a book to jump start your prose, or you feel compelled to check your form, I hope that you will feel inspired to sit down to a blank stationery sheet and let someone know you are thinking of them.

A Little Extra:
• Pleasurable letter writing begins with stationery that makes you feel good: Pick a box of stationery based on your writing style. Sheets for longer letters and cards and notes for thank you’s and shorter correspondence.
• Penmanship is often in the pen: Writing is easy when you have a pen that suites your style. Fountain pens with gold nibs offer the smoothest writing experience by gently shaping themselves to your grip and pressure on the paper. Rollerballs are a good choice for travel and smooth writing. Ball points and pencils should be avoided for letter writing, as they can cause hand fatigue and not look as polished.
• Personal correspondence is personal: Don’t feel that your letter needs to be stuffy in tone or look. Choose from many colors of stationery, inks, and other accessories that reflect your style.
• Practice: For important letters, write out a draft of what you are going to say before putting pen to paper.
• Converse: As Emily Posts says, the best letters are like a conversation. Always keep your recipient in mind.
• Resources: In addition to the very small (and dated) assortment of books mentioned above, there are some great current resources such as the new version of Emily Post's Etiquette; Crane's Blue Book of Stationery; The Art of the Personal Letter and many more.

Letters, Part I: Taking Advantage of Our Everyday Familiarity with the Written Word

“Dear Brenna—Wondering what Gran’pop & I could have for dinner the other eve, came up with a real easy, old recipe & tho’t I’d send along to you so you could surprise the family sometime & fix it for them. It is a “keeper.” Thus the enclosed [5-Can Casserole*]. Let me hear how they all rave about it.” –Beginning of a letter from Barbara McCormick “Gigi” to me, dated Aug. 14, 1992

Shortly after my last post, I received word that my grandmother, whose health had been failing, had passed away. I found out by email, and remember sitting at my desk, suddenly and deeply sad, despite knowing that it was forthcoming. As I sat there, I remember thinking that I would miss Gigi (as we called her) and then suddenly, very distinctly, her death became tangible in the knowledge that our correspondence had come to an end.

My grandmother’s letters arrived every six weeks or so, and were satisfyingly plain and non-romantic in the way of letter writing; they were often on full sheets of stationery folded into business-sized envelopes. As she was once a secretary, they were often typed, but sometimes held her legible cursive that slanted swiftly across the page. They were filled with unrequested advice, questions, and short descriptions of her activities in the communities in which she lived, first in New Jersey and then New Mexico. They also often included clippings of articles or recipes that had made her think of me. More than a few of them began with brisk lamentations on not having heard from either me, or sometimes my siblings, within a satisfying amount of time. Somehow, even knowing the contents may contain a rebuke for a late reply, I was always glad to see one sticking through the mail slot.

Letter writing has always been important to me, and luckily to some of my friends, so I know both the satisfaction of sending a letter as well as the joy of spotting a hand-addressed envelope among the day’s mail. Yet, it wasn’t until Gigi’s passing that I truly grasped, on a personal level, the impact of her letters. “Letters are memorable. They make a lasting impression.” It is something that I had preached many times as a manager at Crane & Co., Paper Makers—but, now it was something I understood. More than just a way of staying connected with me and my siblings, Gigi’s letters were a way of remaining a part of our lives from the other side of the country. And suddenly, with the realization that there were no more letters forthcoming, her absence in my life was deeply felt, and her saved letters, with their everyday communication, became more precious to me.

Often, I feel that letter writing is romanticized. While I appreciate this (as I think the notion of letters is romantic), I think that it is important to respect that the role and function of letters has changed in our everyday modern lives. More importantly though, I feel that the impact of receiving a letter has not. The rare treat of a real letter, now makes it something unique and memorable to be savored. Letters connect you to people, allowing you to be present in their lives without disruption, without the disturbance of the phone ringing or being another email showing up among many. They allow the reader to investigate them on their own time and allow the author to tell the story, uninterrupted, in their own way.

Originally, letters served as the only means of communication across distances. Technology has taken over many of the functions of letters--sharing news, making social plans, setting up appointments, serving as references, or staying in touch--making them more instantaneous and/or automatic through email, phone, social media or text. There is an instant gratification and functionality to technology that has made our communication better and more efficient (thank goodness.) Yet it has given us something else unexpected that I think we should take better advantage of: an everyday familiarity with the written word.

The act of writing a letter can seem intimidating. When you consider it though, we write letters everyday—in emails, in text messages—the means of communication just needs to be altered (along with a little patience for the postal system). If you are looking for your words to have impact, to connect with your reader in a way deeper than email, or just to subtly strengthen a relationship, I encourage you to put aside the keyboard and pick up a pen and some paper.

I would like to say that this is something that I have always known, but now I feel that I can say that it is truly something my grandmother taught me.

A Little Extra
• Inspired to send a letter that will have immediate impact but don’t know where to start? Consider sending a letter of support or appreciation to a member of the armed forces: www.amillionthanks.org, www.letterstosoliders.org or www.anysolider.com.
• Have someone to say Thank You to? Forgo the email, and send them a handwritten thank you instead. It is an action that always guarantees goodwill and more things to say thank you for in the future.
• *Here is the recipe for 5-Can Casserole that was in my grandmother’s letter. (She suggests in the letter serving it with French bread and sliced tomatoes and fruit for dessert):
(Oven 350)
Mix altogether and heat for 30 mins uncovered:
1 small can evaporated milk
1 can chicken noodle soup
1 can mushroom soup
1 can tuna
1 can Chinese noodles

Note on back of card: “Campbell’s chicken noodle & mushroom soups are like 10.25oz each. Tuna can is around 6.25-6.5 oz. Chinese noodles are in Chinese food section & I don’t know oz. but size of can is slightly larger than soups."

Immersion

It is late November. Wild hurricanes of leaves dance down the streets creating a song that is crisp and lonely. When I stand on the back porch and look towards the woods, the trees are bare branched and I can see the nests of squirrels and birds silhouetted in the light of the sunset, which comes earlier and earlier every evening.

With its earthy color palate of browns, golds, and grays, and promise of colder weather to come, November is unapologetically about turning inwards. Trees shake off their showy autumn mane of leaves and the sap returns to the core. Animals and people gather food, share, nest and sleep longer (or desire too). The weather turns chilly and we spend more time inside, with coffee or tea, with books, or working like elves with a desire to wrap up the year.

Amidst all this, or because of it, I find November a perfect month for remembering the importance of returning to our internal selves. Whether it is a walk outside in the brisk air (often scented with wood smoke here in New England), a moment to ourselves, special time with family, or indulging in a few hours to explore an interest, a personal passion or favorite hobby, it is all about taking time to turn inward towards the core of who we are. Or, in other words, taking time to immerse ourselves.

Immersion is important because it allows us to recharge. Similar to incubation, the second stage of the creative process, immersion allows us to enter a space where we can experience flow, a sense of being connected, or allow our usual mental chatter or activities a vacation. This important and mysterious phase of the creative process usually takes place away from the active attempts of solving the problem—away from the “work.” It is where the subconscious is able to mull things over without the censors of the conscious mind. (How many ideas have you had before falling asleep? Or even in the shower when you are still waking up?)

Magical things happen when we allow ourselves to become immersed in an interest, a simple activity or a moment. Ideas and memories rise to the surface like bubbles in champagne—little trails of thought, connected and disconnected—are uncorked and released. Some linger, and new ideas form and sometimes become tangible solutions or new endeavors.

During the next few weeks on The Paper Compass we will go back to our roots, immersing ourselves in our core creative medium: paper. We will explore some of the ways to cultivate immersion and ideas through journaling, common place books, and letters. These are just some of the ways to gather ideas, consciously and unconsciously, and create a playground (or a launch pad) for ways to work through them or develop them.

I hope that you will join us! In the meantime, I encourage you to take some time to immerse yourself in something special this holiday.

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Back to School: Creativity and the Brown Bag Lunch

A few weeks ago, inspired by the Summer Challenges and Back to School, my mom suggested doing a post on favorite school lunches. I thought this was a great idea, but I wanted to connect it back to the main themes of The Paper Compass: creativity and paper. So while my mom, a gourmet, was thinking about what was in the lunch, I became intrigued about what the lunch was in.

Paper and lunches have long been connected by a happy history of “the brown bag.” The concept of the brown bag lunch is so prevalent that it has now become a popular corporate title for casual seminars that occupy the lunch hour. There was a time though before brown bags, and there is even a time (which we are entering now in our environmental consciousness) after brown bags and this history of the evolution of the brown bag, both personal and social, began to interest me.

During my first class of Creative Thinking we discuss the challenges that block, stunt or thwart our creative growth. One of the natural challenges happens around adolescence. Not only do we emerge from childhood to an awareness of what other people think, but we also become aware of our ideas as they exist in a social sphere. This can lead to a filtering of ideas and sometimes a suppression of creativity or creative expression.

This is interesting to me, as by the time I reached middle school, if not a grade or two earlier, there was a strict no lunchbox policy. Lunchboxes were viewed as “baby-ish” while brown paper bags were “cool.” In fact, the more unobtrusive and bland the vehicle for the lunch, the better.

The irony, and eloquent example of the stunting of creative expression, is that lunchboxes were very much an expression of our individuality. Yes, they (more often than not) were the marketing vehicles for pop culture and Saturday morning cartoons, but in choosing your lunchbox you got to showcase something that you liked, that you felt passionate about. I still have fond memories of my pre-school lunchbox. It was a Muppet lunchbox in goldenrod yellow with an image of the backroom of the Muppet Show on the front. (It was also the cause of The Great Lunchbox Switch that resulted in my first taste of Oreos, but that is a story for another time.)

This is not to say that individuality is lost with the onset of brown bag lunches. In fact, they become interesting for being so similar only to reveal individuality through not only what is in them, but sometimes what is on them. One of my students from my summer session of Creative Thinking was inspired for the final project based on the memory that his mother would draw superheroes on his lunch bags because his family could not afford lunchboxes when he was young. One of my coworkers, a talented photographer, helped a friend turn a brown bag lunch into a memorable interview tool, with each of the objects in the brown bag lunch becoming storytelling elements that represented unique facts about her.

Often, when we have transitioned to something that is “socially the norm”, like lunchboxes to brown bags, or backpacks to briefcases, it provides us with a uniform template with which to examine that which makes us unique.

I would like to thank my mom for the inspiration for this post. While I was blessed with a childhood and adolescence of wonderful school lunches, for the record: nothing stands out more than my elementary school lunch memories of peanut butter and honey or cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.

If you are feeling inspired to think about your own lunchbox or brown bag history here are a few exercises to get you started:

• If you had a lunchbox when you were young, what did it look like? What was on it? Why did you choose it (if you got to choose)? Write down your memories or create a picture of it in your sketchbook.
• If you had a favorite lunchbox, now lost to time, think about purchasing the same version online. Vintage lunchboxes make great keepsake boxes.
• When did you start bringing a brown bag lunch? Do you remember why? Did you or whoever packed your lunch do anything to make the bag unique? Use your sketchbook to capture your memories.
• What was your favorite school lunch? Think about what the contents reveal about you at that time or that time in history. Indulge your inner creative by making your favorite school lunch for you or a loved one. Eat it at work or take it on a picnic.
• If you bring your lunch to work, what do you carry it in? What does it say about you? With all the reusable, eco-friendly containers there are designs to fit every personality and desire for self expression. Think about treating yourself to a stylized adult version of a lunchbox.

Any inspiration from the above, pictures of childhood lunchboxes or memories of school lunch are welcome as comments!

A Month of Transitions: Celebrating "Back to School"

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.” –Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) in an email to Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in You’ve Got Mail

Here in New England, summer made a memorable exit with a relentless five day heat wave followed by a small hurricane. After which, Labor Day weekend dawned with unmarred cerulean skies, the morning air holding a crispness that promised that the transition of the season is near.

September, as it falls in natural time, is a calendar month rich in transitions. It heralds the end of summer and the official beginning of fall with the Autumn Equinox.

In many faiths it marks a new year or a new way of thinking, such as Alban Elfed (Light in Autumn), a Celtic celebration of the Autumn Equinox, when the perfect balance of day and night is a chance to reflect on what has been learned (harvested) throughout the year and how it will be used or applied. In Judaism, the first of the high holy days begins with Rosh Hashanah, the “Jewish New Year,” the beginning of the civil year for people, animals and legal contracts.

More commonly known to all of us though, this time of year is marked in both the Academic and Retail Calendars as Back to School.

With a new fall semester of Creative Thinking officially beginning tomorrow, my thoughts have been increasingly of the “back to school” variety. Time is planned, syllabi are written, texts are read and re-read, lectures reinvigorated. And yet, this is all still the beginning. As the beautiful late summer weather beckons, I sit with my laptop amid a half-built fortress of books and notes that consumes the dining room table, and remind myself (not half-jokingly) of Aesop’s fable,The Ant and the Grasshopper.

As someone who loves learning and paper, and who also has the retail calendar deeply ingrained in their psyche, I will (unsurprisingly) confess that I have many positive associations with the fall. From new school supplies, to sweaters and boots, to the arrival of candy corn and Halloween merchandise, and even the hint of Christmas merchandise to follow, the fall always feels like a new start, a time to focus my attention and achieve new things.

On the other hand it means relinquishing the carefree, daylight-filled hours of summer which hold so much inspiration. But for me, that means it is time to take those ideas (many inspired by the Summer Challenges) and return to the page with a deeper motivation and care for my craft.

Even if you are no longer on the academic calendar, the workplace environment still harbors evidence of the semesters, with people returning from vacations, desks filling up, and the preparations in place to meet the goals of the final quarter of the fiscal year.

Just like the religious and seasonal traditions above, I believe that Back to School should be a chance for mindful celebration to mark the shift in our intensity of focus. As with all things Paper Compass, “celebration” is interpretive and provides a great chance to tap your memory, inspire your creative side, or just have a moment to play.

Take time this month to indulge in one (or all) of the following:

• Rekindle a love of pen (or pencil) on paper: Rediscover, fix up, or purchase a new writing instrument. It can be whatever strikes your fancy from a No. 2 pencil to a fountain pen with turquoise ink refills.
• Treat yourself to an after school snack: Martha Beck in The Joy Diet writes about reclaiming part of her childhood by indulging in milk and cookies in the afternoon along with some down time. I highly recommend this, especially as a great time for jump starting your creative thinking.
• Add an element of organization: Take time to look through the back to school supply aisle, pick up something that will help unclutter your work area.
• Buy a new Back to School item or outfit: (Even if you are not going anywhere near an academic institution) Fashion is an outward expression of creativity, make sure to let yours out.
• Meditation on learning: Think about something new that you want to learn or refocus on.

No matter what about celebrating Back to School inspires you, set goals for yourself this month and make sure to "do your homework”—you’ll be surprised at how much progress you’ve made by the time the "calendar" New Year rolls around.