Eve Devon
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Dear Diary, Don't Tell

20/10/2013

 
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An "I Love Stationery" Blog Post
Very excited to have the fabulous Misty Dietz on my blog today, talking about a certain type of stationery that she absolutely loves. Take it away Misty...
As soon as Eve rolled out her blog idea on odes to stationary, I was totally onboard. I’ve loved paper--pretty paper—since forever. This
includes a whole desk full-to-bursting of gorgeous thank you notes, delicate
handmade stationary, and dozens of little bags full of lovely confetti that look so fabulous until you’re the one to open the letter and it dumps all over your floor.

I could talk all day about what I love about gorgeous stationary, but  today I want to dish on a type of paper that might not get as much
airtime—diaries. Pretty diaries. 
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Diaries by their very nature harbor secrets. They conjure thoughts of clandestine activities and illicit appetites. I mean, if a particular thought or recounting of events was fit for general consumption it sure as hell wouldn't be written in a private book, right?

I kept a variety of lovely bound forms from my pre-teen years into early college, but I didn't call them all diaries. They were my "journals" - as though using that moniker made them more legitimate. Or maybe less juvenile. Oh, how I freakin' loved those pages. The freedom they gave me to pour my heart out without the fear of shame or embarrassment. Writing in them massaged my creativity, strengthened my aptitude for expression, and allowed me a space to burn off some steam.

When I re-read them from a distance now (the one's I didn't throw away, dammit), I find myself simultaneously amused, bemused, and quite frankly, appalled. I tell myself that the angst that often leaps off those pages will help me to understand and empathize with my eleven year old daughter in a few short years. Because don't we forget what it's like to be a teenager suffering from unrequited love? Don't we forget the overwhelming insecurities of being on the outside of a group of whispering girls, or freaking out about the latest acne flare-up when prom is only days away?

Though I'd spend a lot of time in the store selecting just the right one that spoke to me (one of them sported a lovely inked hardcover of "Scream" by Vincent Van Gogh - do you think that one in particular is full of angst? *snort*), my "journals" were more than lovely jackets on a shelf (or tucked under the mattress). They offered me a safe place to  express my self-doubt and disappointments, but sometimes I wonder if it's not a sad reflection that I didn't have anyone close enough with whom to share those very thoughts. In my novel COME HELL OR HIGH DESIRE, a hunt for a missing diary not only brings my hero and heroine closer together, but its existence causes my heroine's best friend to wise-crack that someone who keeps a journal obviously doesn't have any of the if-you-re-in-jail-I'm-in-jail type of friends.

Looking back, that was probably true of me in high school. I've always kept my deepest fears and insecurities in a headlock (dude, what an apt analogy), not wanting to burden anyone or be a downer. I'm wired to show people nothing but the happy in me.

Then a man came into my life.

He instinctively knew how to read me, even when I didn't want him to. I haven't written in any form of journal since I met him (unless you count my kids' baby books - which are all gorgeous specimens, albeit a little sketchily filled in). I guess that particular thirst for catharsis went away. When he became my husband, I see that he also became my living diary. A diary...with benefits.  :)

So now, I fill my need for lovely paper with linen-bound notepads and ribbon-bedecked magnetic grocery lists. I've traded angst for domesticity, but my love for pretty paper has never gone away.

How about you? Step on up to the mic and share your thoughts on diaries. Have you ever kept one? If so, do you still have it? Is it pretty?

Misty

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Check out Misty's release Come Hell or High Desire.
It's an excellent read and is the cover not completely yummy???


Eve

Misty Dietz link
20/10/2013 02:05:51 am

Hey Eve, so happy to be visiting you today! Thanks so much for having me! xoxo

Eve
20/10/2013 04:17:26 am

It's a pleasure, Misty. I think so many of us write diaries when we were younger as a way of learning to understand ourselves and the world around us.

And LOL on the ribbon bedecked magnetic grocery lists. I see many people walking around with shopping lists at the grocery store - some have them on their phones, some have printed out lists they did at work, and mine? Mine are just like yours, pretty, patterned stationery that I love! Eve

Misty Dietz link
20/10/2013 06:08:20 am

Hahaha! I knew we had a lot in common! :)

Virginia Kelly link
20/10/2013 03:11:05 am

What a beautiful thing to say about your husband: "he also became my living diary. A diary...with benefits"

I kept a diary briefly in high school, full of the typical teenage angst. I don't know what happened to it. But as I read your love for diaries, it made me wonder if I shouldn't be keeping one right now, with so much going on in my life. Or maybe one for the "brilliant" ideas I absolutely *know* I will never forget... then do :-)

Great post, Misty. Looking forward to reading Come Hell or High Desire.

Misty Dietz link
20/10/2013 06:11:15 am

Hi Ginny! Thanks for visiting! Yes, by all means, go out and shop around for the prettiest journal and pen you can find, and then sit down when you have a quiet moment and enjoy the feeling of putting your thoughts down. There's something wonderfully freeing about getting the emotion out in a stream of consciousness kind of way.

I love your idea of using a journal just to capture your story ideas, too! I think I may just have to do that as well!

Have a wonderful day, and let me know if you get a pretty journal! :)

Teresa Reasor link
20/10/2013 06:33:53 am

Misty:
I used to keep a diary of writing ideas. If I had a dream that I thought was inspiring I'd often write the idea down. (when I could remember it)
And I would often times write down snippets of dialogue that I had found interesting.
Ideas for paintings and drawings along with sketches.
Just all sorts of creative things. I wasn't allowed to write down anything negative. I had to think of something positive to write.. So I'd even write whole scenes down to unrelated stories.
I started doing this about the time my Dad died. I was so traumatized by his death that it took me 9 months to start writing again and I had to start this way. I'd write lists, and all sorts of things. snippets of poems. You name it. But I looked at the blank pages for over nine months before I could put anything down on them. It did help me get to the point where I was able to accept my grief and start putting words down on paper again. I guess it was therapy.
Very good blog.
Teresa

Misty Dietz link
20/10/2013 12:57:55 pm

Oh, Teresa, my heart squeezes just thinking about your situation with your dad. The day my father dies a part of me will go with him. I tear up just thinking about it. I think it's a loving tribute to him that you would only let yourself write positive things in it. You and Ginny are definitely inspiring me to get my own pretty little book to keep beside to record all sorts of snippets of good stuff. Thanks so much for visiting! xo

Eve
20/10/2013 06:09:46 pm

Teresa - thank you for visiting and leaving such a beautiful comment. Your journal sounds amazing. I love that you included all different types of jottings in it and that you only let yourself put positive things in.

Liz Everly link
21/10/2013 06:34:12 am

What a lovely, thought-provoking post. I use to journal a lot. You just reminded me how much I miss it. Think I'll start another one. Thanks, Misty!

Misty Dietz link
21/10/2013 07:50:29 am

Hi Liz, I hope you do...and make sure it's pretty because that makes it extra special! Thanks for taking the time to mosey on over and comment! xo


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