An Accurate Record

After watching a YouTube video about journaling with fountain pens, I want to add a fountain pen to my Christmas list. I like the idea of writing on good-quality paper with a real ink pen.

The last time I owned a fountain pen was when I was about 13. That was 52 years ago. I look at those numbers. Surely that can’t be right. Is my maths wrong? No, sadly, 52 years have passed since I was a 13-year-old school student with black, ink-stained fingers.

But even with the correct maths calculation, maybe I've still made a mistake. The number 13 might be wrong. Did I use a fountain pen as an older teenager? Did I use one at uni? The problem is my memory is faulty, at least when it comes to pens. And I can’t check the facts because I never stored away any pen details in a journal or diary. I never thought I'd want to remember what kind of pen I used in those days.

Now, I record all kinds of daily life details: my friends’ names, including their surnames, the books I’m reading, the food I eat, the clothes I wear, including the day when I bare my legs for the first time after a long winter, the make of the car I drive, the shops where I buy my food, the cafes I visit, the weather, and even the moon phases.

I record everything more than once. I have many journals where I write about my life, my thoughts and ideas. I also have my website, my books, and emails and messages that I exchange with friends and family.

In another 52 years, I could scroll through a digital journal or flip through a paper one and be certain what kind of pen I used in 2026: an Apple Pencil with a digital fountain pen setting or a black Sharpie pen. Except I probably won't be able to do that because it's highly unlikely I'll live until I'm 117.

In another 52 years, I'll be long gone. But will my journals still be around? Will they give someone an accurate picture of the life I lived?

Future generations will have no trouble imagining the 2020s because most people’s lives are well documented. We take thousands of photos, create videos, and write captions, sharing all the little details, like what we eat for dinner - a photo of an empty, dirty plate proves the meal was delicious - what we wear, what we think, all our opinions.

In another 52 years, people will know that in 2026, we were all good-looking, our homes were clutter-free, pleasing to the eye - aesthetic was a popular word - our children were adorable, crease and dirt free, and we smiled a lot, assuring everyone that we knew the secret to happiness, whether that was the magic moisturiser that produced ageless, flawless skin or the foolproof parenting method that resulted in perfect kids.

And the pen that’s creating this accurate record? A fountain pen? A Sharpie? No, it’s a finger or thumb tapping on a screen.

Image

Recently, I’ve been creating digital scrapbook pages, a weekly record of my life.

I make my images in Canva and display them in my flippable Paper journal.