I got my lost planners back...now how do I reconnect with them?
Hi all.
Some of you might remember my post about loosing all of my Hobonichis earlier this year. Here's an update on that. Sort of. For those who care and in the hopes that perhaps this community will have some helpful thoughts on my current situation (again).
I got some very kind comments on that first post and a super generous redditor even gifted me a Weeks so I could get back into planning. [shoutout to u/dreamworldinhabitant] I still couldn't quite get back into journaling, but my planning was saved and I was happy to just take the win, move on and hope time would fix the rest. I didn't really expect to get my "old" planners back any time this year, or at all.
Well, what do you know: They're back. They've been back since last week actually. Surprisingly they are mostly undamaged too.
I haven't taken them out of the package.
They feel like planners someone else used and it feels weird to even open them. I thought I'd be ecstatic and happy to dive back in! I thought I'd be so excited to get them back. My planners are usually big comfort items to me so I thought having them back would... cheer me up at least.
But it...hasn't.
Instead I can't really make myself pick them up and they make me feel...weighed down? Weird and heavy. Leafing trough them feels almost like reading someone else's diary. Thinking of writing in them just makes me uncomfortable.
Maybe it's just because my last few months have sucked. I got sick mid-March and then basically did not stop being sick on and off (mostly on) all the way trough April. I stopped using a paper planner completely for most of that time since I just felt too sh*t. This isn't to say it was all doom and gloom 24/7, but being sick constantly is exhausting AF and I did not make plans because I was sick so often.
However, when this month started I was excited to get back to using my gifted Weeks regardless, since I realised I missed the creative outlet/routine of my Hobonichi even if I didn't have things to plan. I'd also found two "white whale" covers secondhand this year and was excited to finally put them to use. Then the email telling me I could have my old planners back completely threw me for a loop.
Now all of my planners old and new are sitting unused. And I feel stupid.
I don't want to just throw the old planners away. I was so excited when I picked them out last year. I went to the trouble of getting a Japan-exclusive Weeks. I still really like the designs I picked and I know the formats work for me. And I feel extremely sad when I think about just letting them go and giving them to someone else. It feels like wasting the gift/luck of unexpectedly getting them back.
What would you do in this situation? Functionally, I'm not really in need of a planner right now. I can use my phone app like I have been for the past months. I miss journaling...but I can do that in any old notebook, I guess.
If I had more of a functional need I would probably be back in the gifted Weeks already until I figure things out, but as it is I'm just...stalling.
How do I make myself love these planners again? Or should I just cut my losses and get over my sadness to give them away? Is this just not a Hobonichi year for me and better luck for the next release?
I don't really know. What do you think? If anyone here has picked their 'Nichis back up after a break like this, I'd be happy to get some advice. How did you connect with your planner again and find your Hobonichi groove once more?