InCas_ of Emergency

So over a year ago, I wrote a followers-only entry on my "notebook addiction" in which I mentioned getting a year-long subscription to Field Notes. This is a bit of an update on that, which I am ok with making public. It's a slightly more elaborate version of something I would post to /r/fieldnotes or /r/notebooks.

So last year I was *really* into Field Notes. Before then, I had heard about them but they hadn't really caught my interest. Then I bought an LL Bean limited edition 3-pack at that same store. I really liked the flexibility of the covers and the portability of the small size. I even used one as my travel notebook when R and I went to Germany. I tried to find where I could buy more but when I searched on eBay, the prices were so high that decided to pass on them.

( My Year of Field Notes )

And then...for 2019, I made the resolution to stop buying Field Notes. I did not renew my subscription, I got off the Field Notes mailing list, and at the beginning of January, I left the Field Nuts Facebook group. I basically cut off any exposure I would have had on the Internet to information about Field Notes. In contrast to how much a part of my life Field Notes (and its community) was last year, this year it's almost as if these notebooks never existed, with the exception of writing on one *maybe* two of the FN notebooks I already have. More recently, I accidentally ran into images of the latest editions about two times, but I quickly scrolled past the images before I could get a good look. Other than that, I have no idea what the latest editions have been, which is a contrast to last year when I would be surrounded by images of the latest editions. Heck, right before my brother-in-law's wedding ceremony in June 2018, I even checked my email and was overcome with emotion when I got an email announcing the Summer 2018 edition.

It seems strange that Field Notes was a guilty pleasure yet I willed myself to go cold turkey. So...what happened? While part of me enjoyed participating in the hype, I think there was a part of me that was repulsed by it, which lead me to stop collecting them. Not to mention, and this was my biggest reasoning at the time, that I hardly actually *used* the notebooks! It began to dawn on me that they were not my ideal notebook, as cute as they were. I can honestly say that the number of Field Notes notebooks I acquired are more than what I will use in a lifetime (I actually hope to sell most of them but I need to get around to doing that).

( The Field Notes Facebook Group )

Yes, the focus of the group was just innocuous notebooks (and other stationery items that could be the topic of another post), but it exemplified the overall drive in our society to buy and consume, as well as to make people into celebrities and put them on a pedestal. And while I still struggle with how much I consume, I'm so glad I got out of the group because it has brought me a small amount of peace in my mind.