Ruby’s Studio: Commonplace Pages

Commonplace Pages #7: Cross Writing

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:56:28 GMT

However much I don’t want to admit it, this is the last year of my 30s. To mark it, I’ve decided to write one letter a month, by hand, to someone who has shaped how I think. You can read more about that project here.

The first task was finding the stationery. I only really had one requirement - a specific size of letter. I didn't want a pocket size nor did I want a huge blank piece of A4 - I wanted something inbetween that wouldn't feel so intimidating but also with enough space for a handful of considered thoughts to flow through.

I found the perfect set at Choosing Keeping (of course) and I started writing my first letter immediately…but I ran out of room before I’d properly got started…kicking myself I started again, and had the same problem.

Part of this (if you can’t tell by now) is I write as I think - same as I do with talking (sorry to anyone who has had to find the endurance to listen to my voice notes) but it got me thinking about something I had seen in a museum once, long ago, letters written using cross writing.

I wondered at the time - why would you put your reader through that - but, after a bit of research, I’ve decided to give it a go, for my first letter. If anything to save me the pennies of going back to Choosing Keeping and buying more of their beautiful stationery…

It was that research that inspired this fortnight’s commonplace page:

this fortnight’s commonplace page

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

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Commonplace Pages #6: The Two Birds

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:46:48 GMT

For regular readers, you know I’ve been reading the Upanishads as part of my philosophy self study. There are so many quotes I have underlined and gone back to but one passage, in particular, is something I want to share with you.

द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते। तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यनश्नन्नन्यो अभिचाकशीति॥

Dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṃ vṛkṣaṃ pariṣasvajāte Tayor anyaḥ pippalaṃ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti

“Two birds, companions and friends, nestle on the very same tree. One of them eats a tasty fig; the other, not eating, looks on.”

Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.1 (Patrick Olivelle translation)

And it’s this passage that’s inspired this fortnight’s commonplace page and got me thinking about my journaling practice.

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

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Commonplace Pages #5: Zurbarán's Roses

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 19 May 2026 16:41:43 GMT

If you live in London you will have seen the advert for the new Zurbarán exhibition at the National Gallery plastered over every single tube station. And it’s with good reason. It’s the first proper UK show ever devoted to him - the 17th century Spanish painter sometimes nicknamed the Spanish Caravaggio for his use of light and shadow1. Anyway, the posters worked. I booked tickets straight away and dragged my husband along.

This fortnight’s commonplace page is about three pieces in particular - the three I stared at longer than any of the others, all of which had a rose somewhere in them.

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

It’s the quotes, images, questions, and half-formed thoughts I’m working through before they get tidied into something coherent.

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Commonplace Pages #4: Cherry Blossoms

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 05 May 2026 16:32:37 GMT

This fortnight’s commonplace is inspired by three things that just so happened to coincide within the same week: the fallen cherry blossom leaves in my garden, a chapter from my current read (Taiwan Travelogue), describing the cherry blossoms planted across Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule, and my recent new fountain pen acquisition, the Esterbrook Estie Kachofugetsu Flower adorned with cherry blossoms1.

It felt like all of these things were nudging me to go down the rabbit hole and research more about this stunning flower and about what it represents philosophically.

this fortnight’s commonplace page

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

It’s the quotes, images, questions, and half-formed thoughts I’m working through before they get tidied into something coherent.

✨Let me know if you enjoyed this post by leaving a like ✨

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Commonplace Pages #3: The Dark and Enduring Myth of Atlantis

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:39:27 GMT

Last week, I wrote about how Atlantis, invented by Plato, was imagined as a philosophical thought experiment. It attracted a number of comments arguing that Atlantis absolutely is real, we just need to find it…

What is it about Atlantis that still captures our imagination? And why are we so sure it exists?

Today’s commonplace page was that rabbit hole.

this fortnight’s commonplace page with an upside down sticker :(

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

It’s the quotes, images, questions, and half-formed thoughts I’m working through before they get tidied into something coherent.

✨Let me know if you enjoyed this post by leaving a like ✨

Commonplace Page #2: What Monsters Reveal

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:29:05 GMT

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for members of the Studio as a behind the scenes of thinking, in a way.

It’s the pages before the essay: the quotes, images, questions, and half-formed thoughts I’m working through before they’ve been tidied into something coherent.

This one started at a lecture on Medusa.

commonplace page (incl. the sticker that didn’t stick properly 🥹)

Last week I went to a lecture on Medusa - on why she keeps returning to culture, why she keeps getting reimagined and reclaimed. Before she even got to Medusa, the lecturer opened with the etymology of the word monster.

Monstrum. Latin. From monere (to warn) and monstrare (to show). A monster is more than just a scary creature, it’s a sign reveals what a culture who created it, is most afraid of.

She had me hooked from there. Because if that’s true - if monsters aren’t just frightening but diagnostic - then what were we afraid of, when? And why did we need to give it a shape?

The rest of this post is for members of the Studio - readers who are building their intellectual life with intention

This fortnight’s Commonplace Page: what the first monsters were for - and what that question is making me think about now

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Commonplace Pages #1: The Whooping Crane

Ruby’s Studio — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:35:42 GMT

Commonplace Pages is a fortnightly post for Members of the Studio. It’s not an essay - it’s the pages before the essay. The quotes, images, questions, and half-formed thoughts I’m working through before they’ve been tidied into something coherent.

This one started with CJ Hauser’s The Crane Wife - an essay I included in Sunday’s spring reading list - and ended with a question about guilt and responsibility.

commonplace page

The rest of this post is for members of the Studio - readers who are building their intellectual life with intention

This fortnight’s Commonplace Page: what whooping cranes taught me about progress, preservation, and what we owe