Welcome to my 'copybook'

For years, I've kept a copybook -- a journal filled with favorite quotes, poetry, song lyrics, even entire passages from books (both fiction and non-fiction). My copybook is black {imitation} leather, with tall, wispy wildflowers embossed on the cover, and sturdy beige pages.

Some of my favorite features of this treasured little copybook are the scribbles Isabella made in it when she was a toddler, and which I promptly labeled and numbered: "Isabella's contribution #1," "Isabella's contribution #2," "Isabella's contribution #3," and so-on. (I have to admit, I'm disappointed with myself for not devising a label much more clever than that.) On pages where Bella's scribbles covered an entire page, I allowed them that; where she scribbled less "verbosely," I simply wrote around them. This was no small thing. I had dreams of a lovely copybook -- always written in my very best handwriting using the very same inkpen on crisp, clean pages. I think I was something of a copybook purist. Or a copybook legalist, perhaps.

The date on page one is August 25, 2004. And while I've only filled about half the book (writing in it frequently during some seasons of life and hardly ever during others), I've referred to it hundreds of times. Whether I'm teaching a class, seeking to encourage someone who's struggling, needing to speak a bit of truth to myself, or simply hungry for the rhythm of beautiful writing, there's always literary sustenance in the pages of this copybook.

For many months, now, I've had a vision to share the entries from my copybook -- to inspire the world with this love of words, their cadence, and the ideas they convey. (Ok, so maybe "the world" is a lofty vision ... but perhaps I'll inspire a friend or two.) I also wanted to put the entries in a more organized format (i.e. labels), where I can easily find any particular entry.

Out of this vision, "I've Heard it Read {or sung or said}" was born. Each day (or two or three), I hope to add a new entry ... words worth pondering, worth remembering, worth sharing. May these words speak to you with the same power, beauty, and truth with which they've spoken to me.