Words I Kept #1

Details on & quotes from my commonplace journal

Hello!

Welcome to the first issue of Words I Kept, a new series where I’ll be sharing quotes I’ve added to my commonplace book. I just made a hot tea, opened my commonplace journal, and immediately felt excited and a bit giddy to share some of the quotes that have sparked something in me. That’s the thing about my commonplace journal, in order for a quote to make it into the journal, it has to have stopped me in my tracks, made me laugh, or been so inspiring that if it doesn’t pertain to my life now, maybe it will someday and I don’t want to forget it.

Ok, let me backtrack. Many of you might be wondering, what is a commonplace journal and why haven’t I written or talked about keeping one before now.

What Is a Commonplace Journal?

I love this very simple definition from Mrs Blackwell’s Village Bookshop…

In its simplest form, a commonplace book is a place to record and organize all those quotes, stories, and ideas from other people so that you can recall them to inspire you in the future.

As to why I haven’t written about keeping a commonplace journal until now? I think it’s one of those things that I assumed others wouldn’t be interested in hearing about, but recently I started thinking that maybe you would like reading about the quotes I’ve collected over the years. Plus, this is a great way for me to highlight books, authors, or anyone who’s said something I found interesting or thought provoking.

What Type of Journal Do I Use?

My commonplace journal is separate from my daily journal (a Leuchtturm 1917) where I write what’s on my mind, other random thoughts, problems I’m grappling with etc. For my treasured quote collecting, I use a Filofax notebook. I find the paper is so smooth to write on and since I suspect you all might love pens like I do, I’ll tell you that my favorite pens to use with both my morning and commonplace journals are Le Pens, Paper Mate Ink Gels 0.7 or Pilot G-2 07 in purple¹.

How I Organize My Commonplace Book

The Filofax comes with dividers and I only use two of them. One section I have for “Quotes From Books” and the second section is “Quotes From Others,” meaning anything I hear or read that’s not in a book. When I jot the quote down, I’ll write the book title, author, and page number if I know it. Many quotes I keep are from audiobooks. The easiest way I keep track of quotes from audiobooks is when I hear something I love, I’ll immediately stop the audiobook and take a screenshot so I can easily go back to the exact spot later and get the quote.

As for how I specifically organize my quotes, the short answer is— they are a hodgepodge of quotes. I don’t put anything in alphabetical order. The main reason I don’t do this or an index of any kind is because I love to open my commonplace book to random pages and see what quotes I’m meant to see at that particular time. I do realize this is the worst way to actually find a quote if I’m looking for something specific, but so far I haven’t needed to find anything that urgently. I’ve been keeping a commonplace book for almost four years, so at this point my method works for me. I encourage you to do what works for you!

Here are a couple great getting started guides if you need ideas - A Simple Guide to the Commonplace Book and What Is a Commonplace Book and How to Start One

Ok, let’s get to the quotes. I made this so much harder than I needed to because I have SO many quotes I want to share. I had to remind myself, this is just the first issue, there will be more:)

Ten Quotes I’ve Collected

From Books

Every pleasure in a day or a life, numbered. But pleasure was also countless, beyond itself—because it remained, even only in memory, and in your body, even when forgotten. Even the strain of pleasure and its taunting: loss. The finite as unmanageable as the infinite.

From part one of Held by Anne Michaels

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I’ve made up my mind, I’m not going to pay attention to what people think. I’ve done that too long- all my life. I’m not going to live that way anymore.

Spoken by Addie in Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf Side Note: as a life long people pleaser trying to be different in midlife, this one spoke directly to me!

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Sorrow eats time, be patient, time eats sorrow - Louise Erdrich from LaRose

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I still mourn the loss of certain people, friends who didn’t call…I was hurt. I felt abandoned. Looking back on it, I wish I had let them go more easily. If people aren’t there for you now, when you really need them, they never will be, and it’s time to move on. You’ll be amazed by how many new friends you have in the after. They’ll be the ones who aren’t afraid of sorrow, who know we can’t avoid it. The best we can do is face it together.

Alice Hoffman from her memoir Survival Lessons (p 21) - Side Note: I think so many of us can relate to this, again something else I keep needing to be reminded of in midlife!

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Despair was a choice. Hatred was a choice. Anger was a choice. I still had choices, and that knowledge rocked me…I could choose to give up or hang on. Hope was a choice. Faith was a choice. And more than anything else, love was a choice. Compassion was a choice.

Anthony Ray Hinton from The Sun Does Shine

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From Others

As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. Clarity doesn’t come before action. It comes from action. -Rumi

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This is impossible to overstate- books are everything to me. Books have made me constantly curious, hungry to learn and just full of wonder. They’re an endless source of delight. - R.F. Kuang

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I never understood the idea that you’re supposed to mellow as you get older. Slowing down isn’t something I relate to at all. The goal is to continue in good and bad, all of it. To continue to express myself, particularly. To feel the world. To explore. To be with people. To take things far. To risk. To love. I just want to know more and see more. - Diane Keaton

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The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. - John Muir

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Animals are such agreeable friends — they ask no questions, they pass no criticism. — George Eliot

Do you collect quotes? If so, what’s your process and share a quote or two that speaks to you:)

1. For no reason in particular except it’s my favorite color, I only use the G-2 in purple but I use a variety of colors in the others. I rarely use black pens, also for no particular reason - I can’t be the only one who’s pen particular am I??:)