Tidbits - desire signals, primers, and synchronistic tendrils
Am I spiritual enough?, A life laid out in daily minutiae
You can listen to me read this post aloud here
I haven’t written a tidbits post on Substack yet. So here we are. I like writing a bunch of shorter pieces to honour emergent happenings - just things I’m noticing and tending to, but don’t want to labour yet lest I harden up the ideas by pushing things too far too soon.
I am noticing that they do seem tendrilled to other things I am doing and thinking about - not completely random, so I might pick up the thread to write more about these another time.
When I finished writing all my tidbits, the piece was really loooong. So I’ve split them into 2 and will share the other next time.
If you notice something evocative about the topic or my take on it, please share your experience. I’m immensely curious about the ideas, images, symbols, memories, or body experiences being stirred, even if they are tangent to mine.
I'm also curious about how it might prime your experience out there in the world …. I’m thinking of synchronistic happenings or ways it reorients your attention.
Let’s begin.
Light - as in the winter sun - activating my spiritual bones
I seem to be switching up and rearranging my daily rituals, routines and spiritual practices a lot lately. More disturbing for me is that my contemplation practice has become VERY informal. It’s having me question - Am I spiritual enough these days?
I suppose I’m not super worried, but I am curiously curious about what this means for my identity!
But I am loving just lounging on the grass for a few minutes to smell the earth, look at the sky, and feel the sun. A hark back to COVID lockdown days when this was a truly healing daily ritual. Now with the cold weather, I’ve taken my prayer and contemplation practice (if you can call it that) outside for only a few minutes in the sun on my front verandah. It’s more an absorption than anything lofty and disciplined.
— Perhaps it’s spiritual enough to merely appreciate the Glory and touch the Mystery (?)
A new kind of journaling, I think I can get behind - via an 80-year-old dandy man
I was struck by this article by Viv Chen here on Substack, where she spends some time with Raymond, an 80-year-old African American man. An artist-photographer, dapper dresser, and journaller. Raymond graciously lets Chen take a peek into his private world through his daily journal, where he shares his “system” of journaling. It's fascinating and I could not stop thinking about it for days afterwards. I saw this as a desire signal for me to follow up in some way.
— When has that happened to you? - A desire signal that has led you somewhere new?
But first …
I have never been a daily journaling kind of person, although as a girl, I loved the idea of keeping a record of what’s happened and some sort of clever reflection that my child-teen self hoped would sound profound. I had purchased said journal several times but NEVER made it a habit past a day or 2.
This creator on TikTok has also been sharing her old journal entries - from girlhood to now. They are VERY personal, and aside from being quite raw and confronting in content, they are also creative but mundane daily accounts. What I imagined girl-journalling would be (ha!).
But alas, my journalling is all quite serious and consists of:
occasional bouts of daily pages a la The Artist’s Way - which helps purge and overcome mental /creative blocks
brief, short, sharp reflections after I finish with my personal psychotherapy or spiritual direction sessions.
a dream journal - which I sometimes transcribe into my therapy reflection notebook as above
dozens of books full of notes and contemplations from when I attend workshops or listen to podcasts and audiobooks, etc. - I now use them as references for my articles and teaching, etc.
But back to Raymond :::
I think I was struck by the simplicity of Raymond's daily accounts, that it's more a record of events with little deep contemplation. His life is laid out in daily minutiae. Raymond’s breakdown included weather and meal descriptions, memorabilia, social encounters, and fashion. While systematic (he’s developed and evolved his system over decades), it’s flexible and adaptable. It's also unpretentiously creative. I love the memorabilia in particular.
So, in honour of Raymond, I ordered his exact journal (At-A-Glance Daily Reminder Diary) - it took 2 weeks to arrive as I had to track it down, but it’s been a little over a week and I’m getting into a rhythm by following his general protocol.
So far I’m noting :::
a) how ‘dull’ my life is, I don’t have enough memorabilia - lol
b) how I don’t pay attention to details that may create more interest (e.g. like cutting out images, printing out photos, memorabilia!)
c) how the repetitiveness and the gaps in my days act like highlighters to help orient me toward how I might want to spend my days differently. My dull and gappy life may help me build one that has more meaning 🗝️
I’ll keep you posted on how things evolve if you like.
— Do you have a daily journal? Do you have some sort of system or protocol?
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. I appreciate you taking the time.
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Mendy XX
References mentioned/used:
Cameron, J. (2002). The artist's way: A spiritual path to higher creativity. TarcherPerigee.
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