Stationery

I have a weakness for beautiful journals, notebooks, planners, stickers, pens… pretty much anything you can find in the stationery aisle. If they served dark chocolate and tea there, I would spend a considerable amount of my day gazing at the lovely items you can find laying on the shelves and hanging on the displays. There are bright colors, perfect points on pencils, fresh ink in the pens, clean unmarked pages; yes, I do love stationery.

I’m not exactly sure why I love new stationery; I certainly don’t need it all. Perhaps it is a symbol of a fresh new start. There is potential in those writing utensils and beautiful books. A new story can be written down. A thought shared, lyrics to a song scribbled, a piece of art blooms on the page. Yes, I think that is it. I see optimism and hope in that aisle, all the way from the on sale 50 cent notebooks, to the colorful sticky notes, to the $50 planners. There is a fresh new beginning there. Oh, and a new beginning deserves beautiful tools.

Why not start something new today? Get a fresh new notebook and a pen that makes you happy — and start. Sure, there will be mistakes along the way, you’ll cross some things out, and eventually you’ll get to the end of the book. BUT don’t worry, there is always a new beginning back in the stationery aisle.

International Literacy Day

September 8 was International Literacy Day. It was declared by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1965. That’s kinda cool!

Literacy is not only language and reading, but competence or knowledge in a specified area. We are all literate in something. My husband is quite literate with computers (my own personal IT guy), my friend is literate in pottery, and my daughter is literate in salsa dancing. Most of the time, however, when the word literacy is used, it is making reference to reading and writing and that is really what International Literacy Day is all about.

The ability to read and write, in my opinion, is more important now than ever to promote in the United States. With the slang used for texting (LOL, OMG, ROFL), assistance with spell check, and reliance on everything digital, technology has left us lacking in some ways. We do a lot of superficial reading but not as much deep reading. Getting lost in a story or learning something new is part of deep reading. I am not sure it matters if we are reading an ebook or a physical paper book, the point is that we all need to deep read a bit more. Below are a few good articles for you to READ.

• International Literacy Association: READ about International Literacy Day.
• The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction: This article by Annie Murphy Paul is really interesting. I don’t need to explain it when you can go READ it. 
• 11 Facts about Literacy in America: READ them, you might be surprised!! 

People all over the world celebrate International Literacy Day. I didn't see any public celebrations where I live, but we can all have our own personal celebrations, anytime, anywhere. Grab a book, a magazine, pull up an ebook online, or go to the library... then, turn off the TV, put down your phone, and READ. Who knows, you might just enjoy it and learn something you didn’t know before.

HAPPY (BELATED) INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY!
GO CELEBRATE!
READ!!