Part 3b: If you could own a store that sold only one product, what would you choose and why?

Just one thing? Well, I would sell journals.

I began writing in journals at the tender age of seven. I had just moved from upper-middle-class-suburbia, Oregon to very-small-long-drawl-town, Mississippi a year earlier. And as a result I had the opportunity to explore, feel and internalize the sights and sounds of an entirely different atmosphere. My new home-town exposed me to discrimination and prejudice unlike anything I'd known on the West Coast. My classmates were slightly perplexed when it came to dealing with a new student who wasn't "all-black" or "all-white". I was a melting pot of confusion and curiosity.

Yet despite all of the possible social-justice-charged experiences I could have written about in my multicolored heart journal (that came especially with both key and lock)--I chose to record moments of joy and wonder. I wrote about the day when my two brothers and I used dish soap, water and old wire hangers to blow a bubble paradise into existence. I wrote about the time when my friend Hayley led me through what seemed like a new world dominated by Beanie Babies--our own kind of Narnia in a land only accessible through her secret attic door. I wrote about trying catfish for the first time. And, I wrote about the rush of glee surging through my veins when I won the recess jump-roping contest. This journal, the first of an endless collection to this day, is a symbol of hope and joy in my life, in the midst of adverse situations, and a long-lasting reminder that such beauty can be found in the dim and dark-hearted.

So now, let's fast forward about 10 years.

About a month ago today, I finished my most-precious journal to date. It's a classic Moleskine (black, leather-bound, similar to those used by Hemingway and others) filled with lecture notes, dreams, photographs, flowers and stories. Not unlike the countless journals since that first one in Mississippi.

Perhaps my favorite part of that journal is found near the middle seam: the Yay! (I'm thankful for) List.

This list is revealing, honest and just, me.

And now, I'm sharing it. With you.







Now, I share because I believe strongly that the appeal of journals is two-fold.

Because while journals are perfect for self-discovery, self-documentation and self-improvement, they are also fitting for communal life. Sharing thoughts. Sound-boarding. Building community. Deepening relationships.

And so, with my one-item store I would spread my growing passion for journals. The one guarantee for any one person to write himself into existence ;)