The Zen of Filofax

About a week ago, give or take a planner page,  Philofaxy polled,  "What is the primary use of your Filofax organiser Business or Social?  Of the people who responded; 39% said Business, 60% Social."

The comments to the poll weren't as  clear-cut --  I can't respond. It's both...  Would be a good paraphrase for many comments.

"Both" was my first reaction, not that I have a lot  of things slotted as business engagements.

The Vet appointment skirts 'business', a vet being a business.    Oh, and I had to leave the house.   No pajamas equals business.

The post office is a no pajama zone.  Business.  

Sleepwear required for this stuff, personal.

Something about my lists peeked though the business/social question; the word zentangle.  A few months back I started to-doing things I enjoy when clean the toilet was what I opened my Filofax to, day after day. 

 An explanation of Zentangles is at the end of the post but in the purest sense, they are  doodles.  Elevate a doodle and you have something calming.  Looking through my Filofax, it's pretty doodled.  Filotangles, I guess you could call them.   


But when I to-doed the word I meant official Tangles in a separate place.   If you've ever done Zentangles you know the problems of working repetitive ink swirls on cheesy, thin (ahem, Filofax) paper.  I'll just throw the word laughable out there.

I outsourced. 

Guess.  

No. Forget it. 

You'll never get it.

Miss finch has a two back pockets.  One on top and...

A side one for sliding on in.  Never would have guessed an entire full-sized Midori Traveler's Notebook would fit back there.  

Granted, it makes her a bit of a porker.

Frankenplanner though it may be, it could practical for travelers who need to carry both.   For me...    

It was about carrying the inserts, Midori paper is great.  I stuck a  qrid-ruled and  kraft paper book back there; both are wonderful for doodleage.  

Without the leather wallet Miss Finch fits into her jeans without laying down to zip them.  

Reflecting back on the Philofaxy poll, I can't answer.  Miss Finch isn't business or social.  She's the running tally of my day, a place to write and stick disjointed lists or  things that have order and flow.  She's a place to log long and short range records and goals.  My need-to-be-dones for tomorrow and the year-from-tomorrows both have a place.  

 Rick and Maria believe life is an art form and they call Zentangles, "an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life."   Essentially, my Filofax is a braindump  but that term has zero deliberate artistry.   Miss Finch and I are leaning towards the more esoteric,  A Filofax is the tangible version of my stream of  consciousness ...


Elegance and deliberate artistry aside, there is something meditative, even  Zen about using a Filofax.  Putting pen to paper and taking your time daily, is something lost on a lot of people.  I like describing Miss Finch as my Stream of Consciousness, it suits and I think we're gonna go with it.

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Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas created the term Zentangle and their explaination is "is a way of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is fun and relaxing. Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being."