In the past 4 years, it has become a habit of mine to carry around a small notebook and pen everywhere I go. Be it to stay at my grandmother’s place or abroad for travel, a notebook is always in my backpack. I never really journal or anything in it, though.

It’s a notebook of miscellaneous things. A prototype of my thought process. Somewhere I can capture everything going about in my mind. That way, I can have a lot more headspace. Now, don’t think I write elaborate pages about genius ideas or anything in one sitting. It is just simply a collection of random words, sentences, little drawings.

If a new idea pops up in my head, I immediately jot it down; little ideas about my blog site, new additions to my bucket list, ideas about new drawings or topics to look up, etc. because you are always at a risk of forgetting and losing that idea which brought the sparkle in your eyes:

When an idea is gone, it is gone forever.

Sometimes I like capturing tender moments, too. Like that one where Dad and I were taking a walk along the shoreline and talking. Or that one where a friend and I were sitting in a cruise silently, and gazing into the vastness of the ocean (and I just fell asleep like that!).

At times, I’ll feel like drawing something. Anything. But I’ll just want to do it. It’s like giving shape, size and proportion to my subconscious. Bringing out the subconscious is also a way of self discovery.

Maybe it is something really sweet or smart that someone said. Or the lyrics of a song that I love. I’ll quote that, too.

Other times, you just never know when you might need to take a note of something.

Writing down random stuff in a notebook might seem simple and lame but in my experience, it’s great having some place to put down my thoughts and let them marinate. It gives me a lot more headspace. It also serves as a great way to bring out your subconscious.

* I had read the quote “When an idea is gone, it is gone forever.” or something similar to that in a book once. I don’t remember the name of the book, though. I did try looking up the source of the quote on the Internet but wasn’t able to spot it.