These are, without question, the most beautiful notes I’ve ever seen. While Isabel referred to them as “garbage,” I find myself wondering why she doesn’t publish them. I cannot bring myself to part with her notebook because I am in such awe of her precision.

Her note-taking is a perfect mirror of her personality: focused, organized, and scientific. Like her father, she possesses an incredible ability for analytical thought and logical sequencing, those “left-brain” traits that provide the structure necessary to bring creative ideas to life.

My own mind works quite differently. My notes are a scattered reflection of my “right-brain” tendencies: curiosity, visualization, and big-picture thinking. I often have countless projects in motion and thoughts that surface only to be quickly buried by the next inspiration. While I’ve mastered the art of multitasking, a glance at my notes reveals the beautiful, busy chaos of my internal world. They are everywhere—in planners, brain-dump journals, on my nightstand, and even in my car.

I am always thinking, and rarely about just one thing. Even back in school, I never used a proper format or filled pages with the meticulous detail she does. Looking back, I’m not even sure what I was doing—mostly scribbling and daydreaming, I’m sure! Regardless even if she doesn’t see the value in these notes now, as her mom, I know exactly what they reveal about her and one day she will see how much I admire her.