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Commonplace Book

December 1, 2011 by Imaan 13 Comments

One of the things that I would like my kids to do is to maintain a commonplace book. I used to do this during my schooling days and have revived the practice lately after discovering a few fragments that survived our many moves.

In this day and age, when people need to recall a quote, they can always refer to the library or good ol’ Google. However, in earlier centuries when libraries were smaller or not as accessible and books were far dearer, ardent readers and lovers of good words would copy out passages they wanted to remember in their own notebooks or what is known as the commonplace book. It is simply a journal in which people copy poems, sayings and passages that they encounter. This can be information that they find useful – such as recipes, remedies, scientific facts – or words that they find inspiring – speeches, exerpts of religious scriptures and the like. Writers like Henry David Thoreau, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mark Twain all kept such books.

There are many advantages to this practice. It makes one a better reader – rather than just passively skim over the words, one gives pause to think and to read more deeply and reflectively. The commonplace book can be one’s bank of useful knowledge and serve to inspire new ideas.

For me, it has also been a personal record of the ideas that have shaped me at different stages in my life. I found in my old notes, poems, exerpts from Shakespeare and also passages from novels I had studied as an English Literature student in junior college. Later, I wrote out speeches and inspiring words about revolution against oppression and racism – I was passionate about these topics when I studied History and Sociology in university. When I began to study the deen in greater depth, I began including verses from the Qur’an and ahadeeth. In a way, my commonplace book details a map of my growth and exhibits a portrait of me.

Commonplace Book (Moleskine Foldout)

Not my book, but an image of a Flickr user’s (Chris Lott’s) commonplace book with Japanese folds

My commonplace book is pretty… well… commonplace. I do try to write in my best penmanship (and that’s not saying much!) but it is quite a plain book on the whole. However, after reading through Umm Tafari’s blog, Visual Journaling 4 Kids, I am considering jazzing up my journal and encouraging my kids to make theirs (when they start in shaa Allah) vibrant and lively as well. I have a huge fear of failure when it comes to art and I don’t want my kids to inherit this complex, so I hope to combine commonplacing with art journalling. I think that this will go down well with my girls – Mars already diligently writes in her diary and has begun writing essays, while Bear loves art and is beginning to test the waters of self-expression. They can add their own flavour and interpretations to their compilations.

I’ve looked through several sites (Pinterest has been most helpful!) and found lots of inspiration. Some are daily journals or diaries and not commonplace books per se, but think how lovely our personal anthologies of beautiful words can be with a little design. Some of these journals are like the arty scrapbooks that many hobbyists produce. However, the one thing I’ve noticed about them is that they need not be as expensive to produce – you don’t need a large stash of embellishments, stamps, adhesives, ribbons, stickers and what not. I think you can produce decent pages using good pens, colour pencils, paint or crayons and by recycling materials you find around the house.

I will probably refer to Visual Journalling 4 Kids, Art Projects for Kids and a book entitled The Creative Journal for Children by Lucia Capaccchione.

journal-1

Here is a Flickr user (Virginia Blue) who keeps a daily doodle journal.

journal-2

Another page by Virginia Blue – I like her catchy doodles. I wish I had the same flair, but I overthink things!

December2010

Chronicle of a month by Tracy U. Look at the details!

Home

Home by Tee Thompson. She has a blog at Green Isles Crafts where she shares how she creates pages. (Some involve drawing people, just so you know.)

Some other random links for ideas (exercise caution… OK?)

  • Journals by The Creative Place
  • Paper Relics’ Gallery
  • Phizzy Chick
  • Traci Bunkers Creates a Visual Journal Page
  • Alisa Burke

Do you keep a commonplace book or maintain an art journal? I’d love to hear your ideas if you do :)

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Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend wh Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend who is a member of a minority group here. (I am keeping things vague for her safety and mine.) She has a relative who is also a friend of mine. 

In both my early encounters with them, I’d always sensed an air of reserve and secrecy. I understood that we had different beliefs, but I could not understand what I perceived as fear. Not being a native here in Pakistan, I’d had my share of bewildering and unfathomable encounters, so I’d left things at that. Maybe I’d understand in time to come, I thought.

They had always been very kind to me and I tried to reciprocate as best I could. For all our (acknowledged) differences in opinion and belief, we found some common ground and focused on doing some good. My friend’s relative donated science kits as well as books for my homeschooling gang and I’ll always be grateful for that. 

I read news yesterday about how my friend and her people do in fact live in danger. She told me how she fears for her husband’s life every single time he leaves home. She jumps every single time her doorbell rings. She worries about sending her daughter to school for fear of bullying or worse… Target killings of her people are a reality.

It made me feel so ashamed because this is tragic and downright disgraceful for any country, but even more so for a Muslim one. 

It’s OK to disagree. It’s OK to debate. It is NOT OK to terrorize and it is NOT OK resort to violence. It is wrong and it is unjust and it is EVIL to do so. When dealing with people of different beliefs, can we not be civilised? Can we not be HUMAN? Can we not behave the way our deen taught us? 

We need to find a way to make things better. It is not right to allow people who know precious little about Islam to desecrate it. 

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#islam #minorityrights #knowyourreligion #pakistan
Journalists say this time it is different. Rushdi Journalists say this time it is different.

Rushdi as-Sarraj, Yasser Murtaja’s friend, told Al-Jazeera, “This task is difficult under normal circumstances, so you can imagine working under a fierce offensive that does not distinguish between a journalist, a civilian or a military leader.” Israel is working hard “to silence the image and voice, and to ban any news or information that exposes its crimes”.

He also says, “My family doesn’t stop calling me, fearing that I could be harmed. It is an endless circle of fear and exhaustion. But we must continue sharing our message.”

Praying for Muna El-Kurd @muna.kurd15 , her brother @mohammedelkurd and all the journalists putting out the truth. 

#palestine #freepalestine #freemunakurd #freemunaelkurd #savesheikhjarrah #savesilwan #savelifta #savemohammedelkurd
«THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019» «We returned «THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019»

«We returned to the park after the lockdown earlier this year… sadly our tree for all seasons is no more 😢»

FOREIGN LANDS by Robert Louis Stevenson
Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me?
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked abroad on foreign lands.
I saw the next door garden lie,
Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
And many pleasant places more
That I had never seen before.
If I could find a higher tree
Farther and farther I should see,
To where the grown-up river slips
Into the sea among the ships.
To where the roads on either hand
Lead onward into fairy land,
Where all the children dine at five,
And all the playthings come alive.
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#throwback #pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
A couple of you asked me to make a post of my stor A couple of you asked me to make a post of my story in response to LV’s despicable use of the keffiyeh design. Pictures in this post are from hirbawi.ps and @palestine.pixel … 

EDIT: yes, my second slide should have been edited and it is bugging me. I repeated 1930s… sorry! If you want a more polished version, DM me. You get my meaning anyway, right? 
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#palestine #freepalestine #keffiyeh #gaza #jerusalem #savesheikhjarrah
«YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020» I was feelin «YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020»

I was feeling a little out of sorts (again) – I’d left the house a mess (again) and the boy and I were in a rush to get to the Art Co-op. Habiba @ourlivinghomeschool was doing a session on Wassily Kandinsky that day. 

We were delayed by a massive traffic jam and our stress levels rocketed when an obnoxious motorist kept sounding his horn repeatedly as if to shoo other cars out of the way. What was everyone else to do but wait for the jam to ease? 

We made it just in time though…barely! As we ran towards the gathering, it was as if a huge weight was lifted away. This gorgeous view greeted the boy and me, alhamdulillah. When we got down to studying Kandinsky, we felt more than fine.

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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #desidiaries #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers #artcoop #artoutdoors
«THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» Once upon a time before «THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» 
Once upon a time before Covid.

The calm before…

We had our Monday meet up again at Fatima Jinnah Park. The air was cool and crisp and the skies sunny when the nature gang got together. Then, it was on to a jolly game of Simon Says – Katelynn’s @_k8erpotater clever way of teaching the kids about body parts and how they move.

The kids did their usual tree climbing and exploring. Then, the dark clouds started rolling in. We took a while to decide whether or not to leave – the park literally looked dark and ominous on one side and cheery and bright on the other. We only started rushing for home when lightning split the sky. The kids were not to be hurried, however. They felt little pellets hitting them and stopped to investigate… hailstones!

Our ramble was cut short and I got cold and wet, but I think it was a gorgeous day. We got to learn about nature in a very real way.
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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
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