Writing in the Margins

Writing in the margins may not be as profound or progressive as writing about life at the margins. But it has been a big shift in the way I live my life this year. I've started writing in the margins of books I'm reading, even fiction books. I'm making two dimensional notes: the first dimension being the subject of the writing, the second being the authors technique or style. I feel like life is short and we don't always have time to come back and re-read those books that once changed our lives, but if we want to recall something that added life to our internal current we can easily skim our personal handwriting at the tops of pages of a beloved book and be reminded of the glimpse of brilliance we once encountered. I write in the margins to remember a beautiful thought or picture, to further research an unfamiliar topic, to highlight interesting word choices and to marvel at an author's literary techniques.

Patti Digh, author of Life is a Verb and Creative is a Verb, says that, "Marginalia is a way of carrying on a larger, broader conversation" (p. ix). She goes on to say, "Instead of a book, what if we're actually writing (or not writing) in the margins of our lives? What if our lives are books? What is the sign of our presence? Are we pressing into the margins our interpretations and questions? Are we circling offending verbs and drawing furious arrows to the margin where we srawl "irony," "frustration," "voiceless," "unfair!" Or do we simply turn the pages, passively receiving what's given, furiously disagreeing but remaining silent about it? (p. ix)"

May we all write in the margins, may we take time and courage to engage with life and with books, to speak, to remember, to marvel.
~ Molly