stationery | Twin Flame Blog

I’m in a slightly ranty mood, so take from this post what you will!

I have stuff. And I like all of it. I’m not a hoarder in the sense that I keep absolute rubbish, but I do get sentimental about things. I come from a family of hoarders, so in my defence, I never had a chance.

I get that energetically, it’s better to have less ‘stuff’. To have a clear space is to have a clear mind, and I have to say, every time I watch a decluttering program (I do love Marie Kondo!) I have the urge to clean, tidy and purge my stuff. And some things have improved – my drawers contain all Konmari style folded clothes now, and have done for months. But some things don’t change.

And one of those things is, I like my stuff.

I’m not just a writer. Or even just a reader. I have a LOT of interests and hobbies. I knit, crochet, scrapbook, sew and create all sorts of crafty things. I love stationery (washitape is my current addiction) so I have a lot of papers, pens, stickers, notebooks etc. I run my own business, so I have stock, packaging, and equipment like lighting etc for filming videos.

And you might be reading this, thinking – so what? Why is this an issue? Well, the issue is, I don’t own my own home, and in the last 12 years, the longest I have stayed anywhere is my current home for the last 13 months. So I have moved, a LOT, and every time, I get so many comments from people on just how much stuff I have. Yet I bet any of them would struggle to move their belongings every few months!

I honestly do wish I could be minimalist, and believe me, I have done energetic work on having too much stuff. But the things is, I love the things I own. In the words of Marie Kondo – they bring me joy.

What doesn’t bring me joy is having to pack them up and move them all the time! So of course, the easy solution is to have a permanent home. But unless a magical unicorn that poops gold bars drops out of the sky right now, that’s not really an option.

There’s not really a point to this post, I was just feeling ranty because many minimalist people seem so smug about not having so much stuff, and to be honest – if I were minimalist, I’d probably be smug too. It does seem like an easier way of life!

But until I find the magical minimalist pill, or a gold bar pooping unicorn, I guess I better just get used to packing a lot of boxes…

(This image may seem completely random, but it shows one of the many craft projects I have done in my life and had a fun quote on it!)

As a writer who relies heavily on technology to write and publish books, I am a massive fan of all the advances in technology that we’ve seen over the last twenty years. I write my books on my iPad, edit and format them on my laptop, publish them on Createspace and Kindle, and then market them on Facebook and Twitter. Every step of my process relies on technology. None of it can be done without gadgets and electricity.

But despite all of these things making my craft much quicker and easier to do, there is something quite magical about creating something using old-school methods. I used to love my old typewriter, and would happily do my school work on it, taking care not to make too many mistakes, otherwise it would be covered in tip-ex, or I’d have to begin again. And I used to love sitting on the beach, or with a torch under my covers, scribbling in notebooks with a pencil. I absolutely love stationery, pens and pencils and notebooks – I have so many, yet most of the notebooks lie empty, unused.

I do treasure the pieces of writing that I have written with pen, and one of my favourite writing moments was when I was living in New York, and was sat in a diner with a friend who kept saying the most hilarious things. Not having any paper to hand, I grabbed a napkin and penned one of my favourite poems, titled – Musings over Milkshake. I still have the napkin, seven years later! I found it the other day:

To read the poem in its entirety, click here.

Who knows, I may even go completely old-school and write a whole novel on the typewriter, or even a pack of 200 napkins – now that would be an interesting challenge!