Writing is one of my passions. I can’t imagine my life without expressing my thoughts through the written word.

Writing my thoughts down began as a girl going through some difficult times. I needed an outlet, although I didn’t know at such a young age this is why I was putting pen to paper, cursive writing my thoughts and emotions down in a spiral notebook. My thoughts and emotions would flow to me faster than I could write them down.

In all honesty, reflecting back on how much I used to write on paper, makes me want to whip out a piece of paper now and write. I truly miss the way it felt to write an entire short story, or five pages of emotion on paper. It was a way to slow down and collect my thoughts, and feelings. Essentially, this also enabled the creativity I held within to emerge before me.

I recall my teachers often complimenting how beautiful my penmanship was. I took great pride in my handwriting. Needless to say, I was never great at drawing, but handwriting was my form of art.

Sadly, I don’t do this as often as I once did.

These days my pen to paper writing consists of making to-do and grocery lists, jotting down notes for an article, and signing my children’s school forms. Although I don’t write an entire rough draft for an article on paper anymore, I still love writing my lists on paper, and not on a digital device. In other words, writing lists, and using a paper calendar help me with my memory. In addition, when I jot down my thoughts on paper for articles, this helps immensely when I’m having writers block.

Furthermore, when my five-year-old sees me sitting at my laptop writing she  automatically gravitates towards the notebook I write my lists in. Putting pen to paper is simply a natural way for humans to explore, express and release their mental energy. When I look through my notebook after my youngest has her hands on it, I will admit, sometimes I feel annoyed because she scribbled in half the book!  However, I know how important her little scribbles are. In fact, her scribbles are her big ideas! Despite the fact her scribbles aren’t legible, these are her thoughts poured into my notebook, and one day, these thoughts will be her legible BIG ideas, feelings or works of beautiful art.

I’m not sure if my daughters will love writing as much as I do. However, I will continue to encourage them to write their thoughts down on paper. In fact, I urge my school age daughter to keep a journal to help her when she feels overwhelmed or anxious, because I know firsthand how healing writing in a journal is. I also encourage my daughter who is entering high school to take her notes on paper and not her laptop. Additionally, I encourage her to make lists on paper to help her stay on top of her studies. This will help her focus and stay organized (because we all know how distracting devices are, especially at the age of 13). In fact, my oldest daughters device hindered her school work during the last term of school. It became an ongoing distraction during study time! 

For this reason, I’m a huge advocate for Hilroy brands latest back-to-school campaign and messaging which emphasises; “Technology is great but your mind is greater.”

This campaign was inspired by the endless potential of pen and paper!  Hilroy created a TV spot that celebrates all of the amazing ideas you can start with a scribble! This year, Hilroy is making its debut on YouTube. The channel will feature different stories, demos, and did-you-know’s all designed to prove the different ideas that start on paper. These series of videos are called #scribblestories and they are quick interviews with people who brought their stories to life. These people could be artists, engineers, chefs, interior decorators pretty much anyone who’s got a story that started with a scribble.

You can check it out here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9FTQEDNwxM

If you’re looking for back-to-school supplies for your school age, and high school children, Hilroy has some pretty trendy supplies for tech-savvy students. My high school daughter loves her new zip up binder which comes with a dry erase board, and a ton of pockets. My school age daughter is obsessed with the new notebooks you can colour on, and my youngest thinks the metallic pencil crayons are way too cool!

I hope the pen to paper never becomes obsolete. I still have letters I’ve written to myself, poems, old journals and short stories I wrote, tucked away in a keepsake box.  Every so often I pull the wrinkled pages of papers and old notebooks out and give them a read. They bring back some of my fondest memories.  These thoughts on paper are as memorable and important to me as a photograph. After all; my life’s thoughts on these papers are part of my life story and great stories start with a scribble.

Enter the Back to School contest below to win a Hilroy Back to School Kit (valued at $115)

Hilroy Back to School

This post is part of the yummymummyclub.ca and Hilroy #scribblestories sponsored program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.