For Joan Dideon, keeping her notebook is a sort of reality check and form of self expression for herself. All of the random thoughts she has goes directly into her notebook. The pages are a good depiction of what goes on within Joan’s mind. In On Keeping a Notebook, Joan is trying to make sense of all the nonsensical things she’s jotted down and trying to come to a conclusion about why she keeps a notebook. I think Joan is overanalyzing her notebooks. The point of them (in my opinion) is to get all the random wacky stuff out of her head so it’s not just floating around her mind space. By writing down her thoughts she is filtering out the insignificant articles of information. 

This external harddrive which takes the form of a notebook, helps to keep Joan sane. It helps her to capture a feeling or a moment and can organize her thoughts and emotions.