Joan Didion had a thing or two to say about the merits of keeping a notebook -- which she spelled out beautifully in her aptly titled essay, "On Keeping a Notebook." Writes Didion:
I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends.
So, regardless of whether you aspire to write an earth-shattering novel, keeping a personal journal has clear perks. Enough, in fact, that The Atlantic spelled them out in an article early this month, citing "increasing control and creativity, decreasing anxiety, depression, and rage" as a few. The piece goes on to explain a new app called Emojiary, which allows users to log their daily activities and feelings using, you guessed it, emojis. The idea is to simplify the cathartic process of actually writing your thoughts down, but the benefits are dubious. Instead, we suggest journaling the old-school way. Here are 15 beautiful notebooks to get you started:
