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I’ve previously posted a bit about my analogue system. Last in the ‘main three’ is my contemplatio, a title I totally stole from someone on the inter-tubes. The purpose of it is a portable collection of ‘things for me to mull over’. It is a little different to my leather Commonplace Book, which I keep at home and is more… permanent?

I don’t throw every idea in. As I posted in my first one in the series², I generally first write stuff down in my pocket notebook in a haphazard way; then at the end of a week I go through and filter the good stuff into the Contemplatio. So it has become a sort of a work in progress collection of things I like, find encouraging, or want to think about more. When it is full I will then move most of it into my Commonplace Book and then start a new one.

This is also a Moleskine cahier pocket notebook² and I only use black ink in it. I often carry around in a backpack or pannier bag, but it’s not always on me like my pocket notebook. I have found I don’t look at it quite as much as I would like 🤔.

I have a page per topic mostly. If I need more, I just start the next free page with the same title and add some navigation markers on the original and in an index on the inside front cover. My contents at the moment are:

• A Psalm
• Design management & leadership
• Analog life and this system
• Wellbeing
• Spiritual
• My values
• A few poems (by others)
• Joy of Work and work purpose
• Recovery
• Relationships
• Activities to do with the kids
• A couple hymns
• Collection of my ‘one thing’ for the week
• House ideas
• Plants

Very ecclectic!

¹ Click to see a list of all posts in this series.

² having posted about these previously, I have recently found that they can be hit or miss with respect to fountain pen friendliness. No surprise really given what I have heard. I will be trying out a few alternatives.

First published 2025-06-04