Most people have heard that a good way to meet people is to play Frisbee with your Golden Retriever in the park at high noon. But there’s something else you can do that won’t require you a fifteen-year commitment to picking up dog poop in the yard: writing in a notebook. It sounds frighteningly simple, but only because it is.

I write down everything, and I don’t do it to solely meet people; I do it because I’m odd and can’t help myself. (I’m composing this on a notepad while on the elliptical.) I write down the quips my friends say; the disturbing thoughts on mortality that spring into my head; brief, interesting descriptions about the world around me; the to-do list that’s been rolling in my head since I first woke up… If you’re a writer, chances are you do all this too, and with good reason. But the benefits extend beyond prep work for a future story or project.

I can’t tell you how often I’ll be scribbling down a note when someone will say something like, “That’s the best idea—always having a notebook” or “I never would’ve remembered that if you hadn’t written it down.” This extends beyond writers and can be inspiring in all aspects of someone’s life, even therapeutic. Granted, it’s initially pretty weird to be more or less transcribing a moment while everyone else around you is sipping a beer and eying you with curiosity and mild suspicion. “What the hell is s/he writing?” they think. “And more importantly, is it about me?”

But this kind of reaction will pass or at the very least ebb. Sooner or later, your friends and family will come to accept you as their own personal paparazzo.  Why? Because, if you use your artistic powers for good instead of evil, it’s flattering. Everyone you know becomes a muse, and who doesn’t want a piece of their life to inspire The Next Great Work? Everyone wants their all-time best moments recorded for all posterity, and chances are you’re helping them out. You think someone’s special and important enough to write about, immortalize.

Before all this becomes old hat to your old buddies, it makes you incredibly mysterious. You’ve got an automatic conversation starter; you’re acting too odd for someone not to comment about it. The semi-paranoid/mostly curious question “What are you writing?” can lead to a lifelong muse (a.k.a., friend).

Who knew a little pad of bound papers and a quickly moving pen could result in endless inspiration and the possibility of discovering not just a muse, but a friend? Hopefully you, but if you’re still not convinced, grab a notebook, hang out in a public space and write about everything that comes into your head. Make sure you take an occasional timeout from scribbling so you don’t seem too absorbed in your work for a conversation. Consider it a social experiment. At the very least, you’ll have finally gotten that to-do list out of your head!

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Lux Zakari
luxzakari@gmail.com
www.luxzakari.com