Collecting Words

And some inspiration for a {writing} life

Carl Larsson, “Letter Writing” (She looks to me like she might be squirrelling some words away.)

Have you ever collected anything? And are collections even a thing any more? (They feel very pre-2000 to me.) When I was a child I would read about someone who collected silver spoons, or clocks, or pig paraphernalia (piggy mugs, piggy salt and pepper shakers, piggy throw pillows) and wonder if perhaps I should collect something? Collection seemed like proof of enthusiasm, if not outright love.

I felt like maybe I was missing something by not caring enough about anything to collect it. Was there something wrong with me because I didn’t love pigs enough to want every last dustable tchotchke with a pig on it? Because I didn’t love anything enough to want every last dustable tchotchke of it?

Admittedly, it could have been the dustable factor. I loathed Saturdays, the day of dreaded chores, mornings spent dusting a house full of breakable items that I didn’t particularly care about.¹ In my adult years, many a beautiful item has been left upon the shelf of HomeGoods when I considered how much upkeep it might entail.

But it turns out that not caring about things doesn’t mean I haven’t loved anything enough to be a collector. Attic boxes (yes, gathering dust) will reveal a Lisa Frank notepad, psychedelic unicorns and all, full of childish handwriting. “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” begins the collection of favourite Bible verses, showing that 10-year-old me felt seen. Then there’s a tiny floral-pattern cloth-bound book with quotes from Jane Austen and St. Francis (including, no doubt, the common misattribution to the latter) in neat cursive. Those were the high school years.

My spiral-bound undergraduate notes contain quotes in the margins: things my professors said that didn’t fit the outline of the lecture, but that I thought were just so profound, judging by my underlines and stars.

Sometime during graduate school I transferred my academic citation skills to my personal journals. Too many times, I had gone back to look back for a quote that really struck me, only to find that I had jotted down the author’s name with no other information. I began to be exceedingly irritated at previous me who blithely thought I would just remember… and never did. So, I put a stop to it. To this day, paragraphs of deep personal reflection may be accompanied by a complete citation: a gift to future me and her weak memory.

In recent years, I’ve begun collecting quotes about writing: words from writers I love, insights from authors I’ve never read, a real zinger from out of the blue. I’ve found that often I select ideas that could easily be applied not only to writing, but to any other creative endeavour, and even to life in general.

In short: I am a collector. I collect words. (And they collect considerably less dust than tchotchkes.)

This is a delightful discovery, for it reassures me that I wasn’t born a heartless minimalist; instead, I’ve cultivated an appetite for wisdom captured in words.

I can’t invite you into a living room filled with piggy paraphernalia, but I’d love to share a few favourites from my collection.

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Some Quotes on Writing… and Life

“Then a Jesuit pal asked me, quite simply, what would you write if you weren’t afraid? I honestly didn’t know at first. But I knew finding the answer would unlock writing for me.”

—Mary Karr

“The job of the writer is not to supply the ideas. It is to be patient enough to find the ideas.”

—Malcom Gladwell

“And you know, when kids ask, ‘Why did you become a writer?’ I have so many different answers, but one of them is always: ‘Well because I was a reader. And I do think after a while you want to tell a story back,’ but not everybody does."

—Kate diCamillo

"Meanwhile I am delighting, crowing at the dim display. Meanwhile I am remembering the thrill of writing when no one else knows, reads, cares. Meanwhile I am wondering who else might be sitting in the library each day, typing out a dream.

Meanwhile I am remembering that this is what turns passion into calling. You do it when you have no time. You slog through alone but leap when others are with you. You do it for no practical reason. You lose yourself in the doing. You are most yourself while you do it.”

—Laura Kelly Fanucci

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I’d love to hear: do you collect anything? Do you think collections belong to a pre-internet, pre-global economy world? Do you wish you could collect something? What inspires your writing / creative life?

1. First-world child problems!