Yesterday I burned or shredded all of my old notebooks.
They contained years-worth of morning pages, ideas, drafts, reminders, todos – all that notebook jazz. Within them I processed, expressed, created. I gained awareness and learned and yearned and explored. Sometimes I achieved. They mapped out a journey of self-discovery, a body of work. They were the vehicle to where and who I am now.
So why get rid of them?
Those notebooks were time machines. But looking at them now takes me in only one direction. The past they contained was often good – but occasionally bad, sometimes ugly.
When using them I edged forward. By keeping them I could only look back.
My current notebooks continue to move me onwards. When they’re full, I’ll shred or burn them too. Because while the past is all we have for certain, it’s the future that counts.
Martin Sketchley 