Noted (Newsletter)

On July 4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. Exactly fifty years later, its author, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) died on July 4th, 1826—waiting to see one more birthday of the country he helped to found. This week—two hundred and fify years after the Declaration—we celebrate America: the improbable, still ongoing, experiment of running a country free from tyranny.

This is how Didion defines a writer: “a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper.”1 Anyone who has read Didion’s writing will not be surprised by this definition—her prose could only have been written by a person who passionately arranged words, hour after hour, day after day. Before I went to see Joan Didion’s papers at the New York Public Library, I read all the reports claiming the archive gives us new insight into Didion’s writing process.

There comes a point when one’s trail of notes exceeds one’s ability to remember them. I am well past that point. I’ve amassed more than seventy notebooks over the past two decades. But I’ve never sat down to make them searchable…until now. Ever since I wrote about Emerson’s tips for finding notes two years ago, I’ve wanted to try his indexing system. So I set myself the task of going through my notebooks from graduate school onward (about 21 years’ worth of notes).

I’ve been thinking a lot about rituals lately—prompted partly by Austin Kleon’s guest post last Monday and the conclusion of the May Commonplace Book Club (CBC). Years ago, I developed a morning ritual: I sit by a window with morning coffee, cat curled in my lap while I pick a quote to write out in my commonplace book. First, I copied quotes from Seneca’s letters, then Mary Oliver’s essays and poetry, then literary criticism.

"Because I am insane, I keep four different notebooks" It’s my birthday this week! For the past few years, I’ve shared a favorite creator from my youth to celebrate. This year, I’m sharing a favorite creator who has just written about child-like things—in the most ebullient way.

Nothing was inevitable about Florence Nightingale’s success as a nurse, medical reformer, and statistician. In fact, at 30 years of age, she was distraught as her family refused to let her leave home and staunchly opposed her ambitions to become a nurse. History often reduces people to symbols—the lady with the lamp, in Florence Nightingale’s case. But she was a real, flesh-and-blood person, complete with all the heartache and triumph that attends a full life.

Since May 1st, I’ve begun every day by adding a quotation to Noted’s chat. Many of you have joined me—sharing your favorite lines. Every morning, I pick a quote to hold onto for the rest of the day—returning to it in the empty spaces: when I’m waiting on the subway platform or as I’m stirring tomato sauce. The quote becomes a kind of anchor for my thoughts. A touchstone for the day. So, I’m sharing some of that inspiration with you.

Tomorrow, May 12, marks International Nurses Day—and Florence Nightingale’s (1820-1910) birthday. You might know her as the “lady with the lamp” who tended to ill soldiers during the Crimean War—but she did so much more than that. Nightingale’s research and activism drove sanitary reforms that dramatically decreased mortality during the war and after; later, she founded the first modern professional nursing school.

There he is: A cigarette in his hand, a notebook in his pocket. Jack Kerouac looks off into the distance, his mind, one assumes, swimming with thoughts. Whatever he was thinking, Kerouac likely transferred it to one of his many notebooks. They remain a testament to his creative mix of discipline and rebellion. Kerouac wrote doggedly, but loosely. He set out to be a great writer, but he would do it his way.

Tomorrow is the 1st, which means our May Commonplace Book Club (CBC) is about to begin! Every day in May, we’ll be sharing favorite quotes on our private chat, building a communal commonplace book. I’m very excited to join you in sharing quotes and creating our seventh (!!) communal commonplace book. If you’re new to our club, this is what you need to know: Commonplace books are personal collections of quotations and other information. And, in May, we’ll share a quote each day on our private chat.