The Case for the Ugly Planner

I love looking at pretty planner pages. The symmetry, the colors, and the loopy handwritings combine with clean lines, doodle art, washi, and stickers to make the best of planner porn. I could spend hours immersed in the world of planner blogs and Pinterest, just admiring the beauty of those carefully crafted planners.

I take a different approach.

Yes, some of my planner pages actually look like that.

Oh, and like this, too.

I asked in my Facebook group for pictures of ugly pages, where a group member named Kim came up with this picture of her planner in action.

And then, topping off the ugly, another group member, Karen, had this coffee-stained delight.

I loved these pictures, even more than the air-brushed beauty that I usually see in planner blogs.

The thing is that these planners are used. They are in action, doing the dirty work. Maybe they have stains, ugly doodles, and no color coordination. But they are practical. They are loved.

Philofaxy, one of my favorite websites, only allows pictures of planners in use - not decorations - in its Facebook group. I appreciate that, a lot, even though I love decorated planners, because it allows me to see actual planners in their native dress, as instruments for thinking and recording, instead of just beauty.

Also, I think Karen's picture above is beautiful, even while it's ugly. Sometimes, in the world of planners, ugly and beautiful can exist as one.

At least the outside of my planner is pretty, right?

Etcetera.