I want to say that the last time I had a paper planner was probably in...2011? So about ten years ago. At some point, it ceased to be a necessity. I mean, why cart that thing around when you can just put things into your phone and have done with it? Or, I suppose, into Google Calendar, which is what I used for a few years before I finally caved and got a smart phone, but that's beside the point.
The last few years have seen a resurgence in the popularity of the paper planner. Whole sections at Michaels are devoted to them and their accompanying stickers and tabs and sections and dividers and inserts and all manner of paraphernalia. Now, I love papercraft, but for some reason the thought of the whole lah-di-dah customizable planner never really appealed.
HOWEVER.
I accidentally came across something a little more 'me' last week. I was watching a YouTube video by an artist I enjoy, and they had been sent a complementary copy of a different YouTuber's 2022 planner. My friends, it was a thing of beauty, and had me clicking 'Add To Cart' faster than could possibly have been healthy. The bit that excited me the most was that it was the perfect balance of fun and functional. It had all the components of a traditional planner, plus all the self-help-y, feel-good-y, hippie-dippy nonsense like goal setting and self reflection prompts, plus it's all COLOR-IN-ABLE!!! It's a giant useful coloring book! Two birds, and all that.
I'm hoping that's enough novelty value to keep me current with it. If you subscribe to all that astrology hoo-hah you'll understand when I say that I frequently succumb to that very Aries trait of starting things off with enthusiasm and then leaving them to gather dust after about six minutes when some other shiny thing catches my eye. I've decided to challenge myself to a limited color palette each month, because if I gave myself full reign over my endless collection of art supplies I'd be overwhelmed--completely spoiled for choice. (Well, apart from the fact that I can't use alcohol markers in it because of the bleed-through, which is a bit upsetting because I prefer alcohol to water-based markers. They just blend so much more nicely. And they don't dry all streaky. Oh well.) We'll see how it works out for January. I've chosen five bold colors for the majority of the motifs--it's a bunch of doodles of books this month--and then filled in as necessary with a few other neutral colors to fill in the inevitable extra space. I'm thinking a group of neutrals will always be necessary...kind of like that show that used to be on Food Network called Five Ingredient Fix or something. You were always allowed olive oil, salt, and pepper, and they didn't count towards the five ingredients in the recipe. Or something. The lady who presented it had huge eyes and distracting teeth, I remember that much.
In any case, I've got a new toy to play with, and it might make me a better human...or something. Or maybe it'll at least make it so that if I don't do things like drink water and do my daily meditation I feel doubly guilty.
And then I color in around my failure and decide I don't really care.
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