There is a vitality, a life-force, and energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.*
(Martha Graham)

I don’t think of it as art – I just make things I like bigger, assuming that if I like them some other people might too. Some do. Some don’t, and that’s okay too.**
(Corita Kent)

The commonplace book or commonplace is a traditional way for noting and collecting knowledge of peculiar interest to the owner. The combination of quotes, recipes, pictures, ideas and more would make each of these unique:

Each one is unique to its creator’s particular interests but they almost always include passages found in other texts sometimes accompanied by the compiler’s responses.^

It’s a visual reminder for us of all we’ve been gathering throughout our lives and have the chance to make bigger, that is, to develop and curate and make available to others.

It’s not a bad reminder to begin keeping a commonplace.

I love the thought that it’s okay to be commonplace because it’s how we make it unique that really counts.

It’s why I love my work helping people remove the blocks.

*Martha Graham, quoted in Sir Ken Robinson’s Out of Our Minds;
**Corita Kent, quoted in Austin Kleon’s blog: Corita Day;
^From Wikipedia: Commonplace book.