Guest post: Why a Book of Commonplaces?

Written a few months ago, posted today

Perhaps a better place to start: What is a Book of Commonplaces?¹

For those who haven’t heard the term: Back in the day, books were expensive. This made libraries popular places to see those expensive books. Since everything was handwritten, folks had to take notes when they read, or when they had discussions, or when they went to lectures. No bookmarking a site or linking a video, no audio recording or YouTube channel for future reference; instead, you jotted down quips and quotes that you wanted to remember or save, adding some of your own thoughts along the way when the spirit moved you.

If you knew me in high school or college, you may have experienced this habit of mine. I had a running list of random things my teachers said in class that we could laugh over way out of context later. (Thanks, Hubert and McNeely, for such gems as, “If Shakespeare were writing your life, things would be much, much worse.”) I had poems, song lyrics, and magazine pages plastered to my walls. I had countless notebooks filled to varying degrees with poems, quotes from cards and books, and far too many whiny journal entries bemoaning my existence.

With the onset of the digital age and the need to transport all these nuggets of information around the country with me on a few different moves, I created a computerized version of similar ideas. I have documents saved of emails exchanged during a long-distance relationship, revised versions of angsty teenage poetry, subfolders for multiple Gatsby essays and research on vocational poets . . . the list goes on, but you get the idea. 

Now I find myself at a crossroads. We have moved to the other side of the world. A few hard copy notebooks even made the journey with us, although most of them were left behind. As a substitute teacher, I have a lot of time on my hands for reading, reflecting, and writing; nevertheless, my habits have stagnated amidst the flurry of children to supervise, Netflix shows to watch, and NYT word puzzles to conquer. I still prefer writing by hand and reading books made of paper, but omnipresent technology makes it difficult to resist the digital age. How do I navigate the desire to consume content, the impulse to think critically about that content, and the lack of an outlet for any of the ideas rattling about in my brain? 

Hence, my new digital Book of Commonplaces–a melding of reading books, recording quotes from those books, linking podcasts and websites on similar topics, tracking books and reviews in a spreadsheet, adding to the list of “want to read” for the future, and spewing my thoughts into the void as a cursor blinks back at me. Most likely, none of what I create will end up posted on a wall (neither literal nor digital), no one will add a comment, and never will I be trending; none of that really matters. 

Through this process I am discovering that many of my character traits and views about the world have stayed fundamentally true throughout my life. So, in the meantime, while some might call me a luddite or a sixty-year-old man², I will continue to form neural networks³ that reinforce my belief that there is a pattern to the weave of my life. 

1. The title and subtitle remind me (Austin) of this funny Marvel movie exchange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIoYMIDB_iU

2. In his endearing way, my sweet husband has referred to me as such since we started dating. Personally, I see nothing wrong with ordering the same meal repeatedly at restaurants, avoiding crowds full of loud conversations, and asking for help while using most technological devices we own. I have fully embraced my old man habits. Apologies to old men….but not really.

3.  See The Shallows by Nicholas Carr for an interesting recap on some of the science behind what happens in our brain when we read books as opposed to surfing the internet.