Commonplacebook.com has been in existence since 1994. Originally, the site was up at a URL at my service provider because it was really expensive to own a domain name in those days. In 1996, I bought the URL – commonplacebook.com.
Commonplace book (n.): an edited collection of striking passages noted in a single place for future reference. There was a time when commonplace books were a popular way for civilized men and women to record striking passages they found in their reading. Who can forget the electrifying effect that some thoughts have on us when we encounter them for the first time? The commonplace book is a way of memorializing those striking passages so that one can return to them for renewed inspiration.
My Policy on Site Comments
I very much appreciate people leaving comments on pages on this site. I love it that people other than myself read stuff here and are moved by it in one way or another.
Commonplacebook.com is my personal website, so I think of it as my real estate. I pay the bills to keep the site running, so it’s really not a “public forum,” but more like my front yard. If you bring me a plant for the porch, I’ll cherish it. But if you graffiti my house, I’ll clean it up.
So basically, I reserve the right to edit or delete comments that bother me in any way. If that’s upsetting to you, I’m sorry. You certainly have the right to start your own site and express your opinions there. I’d probably even read it every day.
Dear Steph,
Hi, I hope you are well. I just wanted to say thankyou. Your site has been a great inspiration to me and has cheered me up on some bad days.
For years I have suffered from clinical depression, resulting from school bullying and an abusive partner. Although those things have ended, my mind is riddeld with bad memories and dark clouds.
I have always kept a book, scrawled with my favorite qoutes, sayings, jokes, recipies, my poems etc. Things that have always inspired me & made me smile, that I read often. A few weeks ago I was on the computer at home and I had a thought, maybe other people write things down like this too! So I googled it. Yours was the first site that came up.
So now a few weeks down the line Im writing to tell you that your site has inspired me to make my own site with all the things ive written down over the years. Your site has made me smile on some bad days when I have thought that I cannot carry on. Now that I am on the path to getting better I have something to focus on and hope, both of which have not been there before.
I am truly thankful.
Katie
Ps. My site is currently under construction, but when its ready I will post you the URL