An unexpected conversation at Stationery Fest💫

Two weeks ago I went to the NY Stationery Fest in Industry City, Brooklyn. I asked a few people beforehand which stationery events were actually worth the trip, and almost everyone pointed me to this one.

Many Japanese brands table there, so I figured it would be worth checking out and making some new connections.

My plan for the day was simple. Meet the people behind the brands, look for pieces worth including in an upcoming box.

But the real reason was just to enjoy myself, surrounded by the things I love.

I'll admit, big crowded events like that scare me a little. I'm an introvert, and a room full of strangers usually has me looking for the exit within the first few minutes.

But despite the massive amount of people, I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it.

Two weeks later, I still can't stop thinking about an unexpected conversation I had over lunch on one of the days.

I sat down next to a woman I'd never met. She was reorganizing her bag, flipping through a beautiful brown leather journal. I couldn't help myself. I said,

"Oh wow, your journal is beautiful. Can you tell me more about your process?"

With that as our invitation to start talking, the conversation just took off from there.

It turned out she was a mom too, with a toddler around the same age as my son, and she had also traveled into Brooklyn just for the event.

At some point we got to talking about missing our kids. We both admitted the same thing.

When you're with them constantly, you catch yourself wishing for a little independence, a little time to yourself. But when you finally get to be away from them, like you wished, you miss them more than you had expected.

I think about this conversation a lot, more than most conversations I had during that day.

I think about the stationery community in general, how kind and warm it is. Not many people talk about how something as small as a pen or a journal can bring people closer.

But I think most of us are drawn to it for the same reason. We want to document the small moments. We want to hold onto little pieces of our everyday lives, the ordinary ones, before they slip by.

That's really the community I started Paper Bento to be part of too.

I wanted to bridge my Japanese cultural background with the world, and give people a way to bring a little calm and intention into their busy everyday lives.

That lunch table conversation was exactly that, in a small but special way.

There's something magical about how two complete strangers can connect on a deeper level over motherhood and a beautiful journal.

I think that's the same magic Paper Bento strives to create every month, giving someone a few quiet minutes and a reason to notice the small things again.

I hope this gave you a small window into why events like this matter to me, not just for sourcing new pieces, but for moments like the one at that lunch table.

Has an unexpected conversation with someone you'd just met ever stayed with you the way this one has with me? Hit reply and tell me.