I’ve been a journalist for most of my adult life, but I’ve been a journal-keeper even longer — since a student teacher in Mrs. Ahren’s eleventh grade English class assigned us to write one for 12 weeks. I’d kept diaries before, I’d scribbled stories and poems — but this was different. I wish I could remember the student teacher’s name or the words he used, but the message I took from this assignment was to go out into the world and observe it, ponder it, make it my own. Suddenly a pen and a notebook were the keys to the kingdom.
I started carrying a small spiral notebook around in my purse, recording thoughts, observations, favorite quotations. When the 12 weeks were over, I couldn’t imagine life without some notebook or other by my side.