A List of Commonplace Headings and Subheadings

I generated this reading list with some lofty goals, and I am still working on it!

If you are already keeping a commonplace book or digital equivalent, tell us about it. If not, make a list of the subject headings and subheadings you would use to start keeping a commonplace book. Where would you look for content and how would you gather that content? In other words, what would your commonplace practice be. 

I have always been a keeper of lists. I enjoy, from time to time, attempting to catalog and organize and make sense of my collections of things.   

While I have a long way to go before I figure out a way to articulate the sense I have made to an audience outside of the voices in my head, a list of subject headings is a sensible place to start.  

Mind 

Recipes – lists of recipes for “smart food” from   

Music  - for focusing and for creative energy; practicing piano and trying to learn new pieces. 

Literature – recommendations from friends, colleagues,   classmates, and family, people reading on public transit, students 

Scholarship – research rabbit holes, bibs, independent projects, coursework 

Podcasts – listening to NPR when I am on the road 

Exercise – to deep my synapses firing  

Art – that I create, and art that I enjoy whenever I am able to visit  museums 

Tradition – family traditions of writing letters, telling stories, learning new things from each other  

Body 

Recipes – to cure, prevent, and soothe all that ails me, and to satiate hunger with nutrients 

Music – to get me out of bed and keep me moving 

Literature – keep me thinking to keep me moving.  

Scholarship – articles about health, from epidemiology to neurodivergence 

Podcasts – listening to NPR when I am on the road

Exercise – like the recipes, to cure, prevent, and rehabilitate all that ails me, and to keep me on both feet 

Art – photography 

Tradition – lifelong traditions of physical activity: competitive, recreational, and now rehabilitative, hopefully making my way back to recreational. Fun fact...I am registered for a 5k in Grand Rapids in October. It’s a fundraiser for an organization called Run a Myelin My Shoes 

Soul 

Recipes – I collect recipes from my grandmother for her incredible desserts, and also for a few of my favorite dishes. I like to try new recipes as well. Next on the list: homemade challah for sabbath dinner on Friday.  

Music – There are a few singers whose music, to me, reaches into my soul. Bill Withers can make me cry every time I hear him – particularly “I Can’t Write Left-Handed" on the Live at Carnegie Hall. The O’ Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack gets me too. I saw Ralph Stanley perform at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, and I can’t get enough of Alison Krauss. Stevie Wonder too.

Literature – memoirs. The list I have is long. I am certain that my collection of memoirs might actually produce a true commonplace book! So many of the memoirs I read stir, shake, or stimulate my soul.

Podcasts – listening to NPR when I am on the road 

Scholarship – so much to learn 

Exercise - the euphoria of completing a run, or a workout, or a hike,

Art – visiting art museums to see art that I have always wanted to see, or to visit art that I always love to see

Tradition – Shabbat dinner.