I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my morning pages. Or even whether to bother.
It’s good to just blather. Get shit off my chest like the day after 10/7. Maybe it’s self therapy? And there’s always the ubiquitous Things To Do list.
But sometimes it’s a chore to hit three pages. So I just shoot for two. The first flip between the first and second pages is a great mind wipe, but I feel like I’m just burning ink and killing trees to fill up page three.
Julia Cameron says you shouldn’t package the journal for public consumption, but I’ve started roughing out blog posts some mornings. And the last couple of days I jotted some half-baked thoughts that want to be recorded somewhere.
Expectation is the thief of joy.
Not a new concept, just a variation of the Buddhist origin of suffering. My personal insight is that comparison and optimization are also expectations (against others and an idealized perfect). These are all bandits against internal peace.
With work and home being so hectic, I need to be more present with the kids. I’m trying out a new pair of personal rules. Our parents never had to wrestle against the allure of a pocket computer.
- No Youtube when they’re awake!
- Leave the phone upstairs (in the home office)
This also applies to life in general. I need to reduce stream of outside words being implanted into my brain. More jazz, less podcasts.
What is the difference between Craft and Connoisseurship?
Both entail a dissatisfaction with the status quo. But Connoisseurship is unhappiness with others, while Craft is the continual striving for personal improvement. Maybe that’s why I value Craft as a practice while being suspicious of Connoisseurship as a sneaky form of optimization.
Making is an act of faith.
Faith that something “good” will pop out. Or that I’ll learn something for next time.