Bits of Bonnie ~ by Bonnie Setliffe Jacobs, 2020 portion
As I start this year's journaling, using the two books below, I have decisions to make. Shall I write in those actual books? Or shall I use quotes like those below to jump-start "journal" posts on my blog? Or shall I continue to use Microsoft Word and print it out bit by bit as I've always done, punching holes in each page to put in a notebook that goes on the shelf? Working on it here allows me to edit, add to, correct, and polish what I write. Once I apply pen to paper that's bound into a book, it's there forever — unless I rip out the page. Leave a comment, and tell me what you think.
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What Would Maisie Do?: Inspiration from the Pages of Maisie Dobbs ~ by Jacqueline Winspear, 2019, illustrated journal
"There is no need to fill the page with your response at once, nor is there a requirement to work through the journaling part of What Would Maisie Do? in a linear fashion" (p. 8).
"I wanted her to embody the qualities of endurance, resiliance, empathy, kindness, and perspective" (p. 9).
"Stay with the question. The more it troubles you, the more it has to teach you. In time, Maisie, you will find that the larger questions in life share such behavior. ~ Maisie Dobbs" (p. 10).
"Coincidence is a messenger sent by truth. ~ Maisie Dobbs" (p. 48)
"Maurice had taught her that silencing the mind was a greater task than stilling the body. ~ Maisie Dobbs" (p. 66).
"With an enthusiastic flourish, yards of vibrant purples, yellows, pinks, and reds of Indian silk were pulled out, to be rubbed between finger and thumb, and held against her face in front of the mirror. . . . Thus a day that had seen so many tears ended in the midst of a rainbow. ~ Maisie Dobbs" (p. 84).
Maisie's journal is based on the author's series of books about Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. So far, I've read the first book (see a couple of quotes below) and picked up the second in the series from the Crown Center library. Donna bought the whole series and has donated the ones she has already completed.
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Maisie Dobbs (2003, Book 1)
"The library was silent and pitch black as Maisie entered. Quickly closing the door behind her, she lit the lamps and made her way to the section that held philosophy books. This was where she would start. She wasn't quite sure which text to start with, but felt that if she just started somewhere, a plan would develop as she went along" (p. 87).
"And what will you study, Maisie?"
"I am interested in the moral sciences, sir. When you told me about the different subjects — psychology, ethics, philosophy, logic — that's what I most wanted to study. I've already done lots of assignments in those subjects, and I like the work. It's not so — well — definite, is it? Sometimes it's like a maze, with no answers, only more questions" (p. 124).
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Birds of a Feather (2004, Book 2)
Pardonable Lies (2005, Book 3)
Messenger of Truth (2006, Book 4)
An Incomplete Revenge (2008, Book 5)
Among the Mad (2009, Book 6)
The Mapping of Love and Death (2010, Book 7)
A Lesson in Secrets (2011, Book 8)
Elegy for Eddie (2012, Book 9)
Leaving Everything Most Loved (2013, Book 10)
A Dangerous Place (2015, Book 11)
Journey to Munich (2017, Book 12)
In This Grave Hour (2018, Book 13)
To Die But Once (2018, Book 14)
The American Agent (2019, Book 15)
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Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice ~ by Michelle Obama, 2019, journal (unpaged)
"Describe your childhood home. What are some of the details that stand out the most? What made your home different from your friends' homes?"
"If you could have a conversation with a loved one who has passed away, what would you ask him or her?"
Where did your name come from and how has it influenced the person you've become?"
"What role has education — whether formal or informal — played in your life?"
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Becoming ~ by Michelle Obama, 2018, memoir
"My father, Fraser, taught me to work hard, laugh often, and keep my word. My mother, Marian, showed me how to think for myself and to use my voice. Together, in our cramped apartment on the South Side of Chicago, they helped me see the value in our story, in my story, in the larger story of our country" (pp. x-xi).
"Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own" (p. xi).
"I was about four when I decided I wanted to learn piano" (p. 8).
"Encyclopedia Britannica ... Any time we had a question about a word, or a concept, or some piece of history, they directed us toward those books. Dandy, too, was an influence, meticulously correcting our grammar or admonishing us to enunciate our words when we went over for dinner. The idea was we were to transcend, to get ourselves further. They'd planned for it. They encouraged it. We were expected not just to be smart but to own our smartness — to inhabit it with pride — and this filtered down to how we spoke" (p. 40).
"My mother ... lobbying for the creation of a special multigrade classroom that catered to higher-performing students. ... Dr. Lavizzo ... had studied a new trend in grouping students by ability rather than by age — in essence, putting the brighter kids together so they could learn at a faster pace" (p. 44).
"I liked most of my teachers. I wasn't afraid to raise my hand in class. At Whitney Young, it was safe to be smart. The assumption was that everyone was working toward college, which meant that you never hid your intelligence for fear of someone saying you talked like a white girl" (p. 58).
"I tried not to feel intimidated when classroom conversation was dominated by male students, which it often was. Hearing them, I realized that they weren't at all smarter than the rest of us. They were simply emboldened, floating on an ancient tide of sureriority, buoyed by the fact that history had never told them anything different" (p. 78).
"At this point, I thought of myself basically as tri-lingual. I knew the relaxed patois of the South Side and the high-minded diction of the Ivy League, and now on top of that I spoke Lawyer, too" (p. 94).
"Anytime a stranger commented that she looked exactly like Michelle Obama's mother, she'd just give a polite shrug and say, 'Yeah, I get that a lot,' before carrying on with her business. As she always had, my mother did things her own way" (p. 296).
"We were the forty-fourth First Family and only the eleventh family to spend two full terms in the White House. We were, and would always be, the first black one" (p. 412).
"Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there's more growing to be done" (p. 419).
"There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there's grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become" (p. 421).
