Create a 2007 day diary

Done! How wonderful it feels. The pages look wonderful, very colourful and all my dates are securely written it. The book is bulging at the seams already, so I’m not sure how it’s going to last the year, but I look forward to decorating it further as I go.

It’s very satisfying to finally have it done.

Just started October. This really is going to be a much closer race than I thought. Not entirely happy about it. I’d like to enjoy the process a little more. But at least this way I know it will definitely get done. Not to mention it is rather fun to see how it’s progressing, to note those completely white pages gradually disappearing.

June is done. Only another 6 months to go. At least this challenge has gotten me off my butt and started again.

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. February is already half over and my diary is only half done. So I’ve set myself a challenge, aiming to have it done by the end of the month. If I do a little every day, it should be fine.

This hasn’t been coming along as well as I’d hoped. I really wanted to have it all drawn up before the year began, but there’s only 2 days before it begins and I’ve only drawn up about half the pages.

My good friend Merceria reminds me, though, that I really only need January already drawn up and I can continue to draw up the rest in 2007. A good reminder, because this goal was always meant to be about process and I’d hoped to decorate further as I used each day. Time to stomp a little harder on that perfectionist streak.

• drawing up, decorating and numbering the pages
• writing in all birthdays and other engagements I know about significantly ahead of time
• actually using it day by day in 2007, writing in appointments as they come up and continuing to decorate.

So far I’m moving along with the first step. I’ve just completed the pages for January, so 11 months left to go!

I’ve made a bit of a start on this. I bought some pretty shaped hole punchers (a shell, a maple leaf, a star and a flower) and some coloured paper to decorate with. It was such a joy just picking them out.

I’ve already finished my first page—a page for January, so I can look over the whole month at once. Now I’m working on a double page to cover the entire year. Then I’ll start working on a page for each day of January.

It’s fun just to play, but it’s been hard, even at this early stage, to overcome my perfectionist tendancies.

What I mean by day diary is a small book where you write down people’s birthdays and your appointments. This year I’ve also been using it to record daily word counts, how much exercise I do and how much water I drink. I’m not entire sure what I’ll put in next year’s.

I usually just buy one from the newsagents. When I was about 16 I made my own. It really is quite a treasure—not because of the appointments that it has in it, but just for all the scribbles, drawings and even comments from friends.

Last Christmas, my sister gave me a lovely hardcover notebook with unlined pages. I’ve decided it’s too small for a writing journal, so I’ve decided to turn it into my day diary for next year.

I want this book to be a thing of beauty and I’ve discovered the key to this goal is patience. I was thinking about writing a lovely quote in for each day. But after a while, the quotes seemed all too similar and I felt they wouldn’t leave me with enough room to write in appointments or any other scribblings I want to do.

So I must learn to create with patience. I intend this goal to last me all the way until the end of 2007. Prior to January 2007 I intend to rule up the pages, number them and perhaps add some small decorations. 2007 itself will be about filling in the space with as much life as possible, one day at a time.