Whenever I travel, I’m delighted to come home. Maybe that’s odd. Maybe that’s just introversion.
But somewhere in that journey there and back again, my hobbit-soul overflows. I think it’s the pace and space of the journey - the change of scenery and upending of habit patterns interrupts the cadence of chorus and verse with a delightful key change that works a Joycean epiphany upon the rhythms of my being.
I return to my Bag End refreshed, rejuvenated and inspired in new directions.
I returned from Toronto with a conviction to live this way. A diet of poetry and Shakespeare, and long walks in the forest and by the river. More time listening to music (I can’t remember the last time I sat down and just listened to music rather than using it as a soundtrack). More time meditating. More time in what Brene Brown calls White Space, what Chris Bailey calls Scatterfocus, and David Kadavy calls Divergent Thinking; whatever you call it, it’s that space where showerthoughts emerge, where the inputless calm lets neuronal whale songs traverse the cosmic vacuums of cranial space.
For some reason, this isn’t comfortable. It’s one of the great mysteries of life. There is a whole host of systems in our brain that come online when we do nothing. Neuroscientists call it the Default Mode Network. It’s the same network that comes online when we reflect on ourselves.
“All of man’s problems stem from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
— Blaise Pascal
I am much more comfortable in the complementary system they call the Task-Positive Network (TPN). Goal-oriented behaviour is soothing to me in some way. I feel like I’m going somewhere, I’m achieving something; maybe it even gives me the feeling that I’m enough or that I’m doing enough?
Returning from Toronto, I’ve been good at avoiding entanglement with entertainment. But it’s not become the meditative calm I had planned. But, my compulsion to catch up on all my read-it-later articles is bounding towards its conclusion. Today, I will have finished up the last of the couple of hundred articles that have been piling up these past six months. My mind is overflowing with thoughts and perspectives, and I’m looking forward to letting it cook.
A time to reap and a time to sow
This week, I’d like to consummate my White Space plan: more long hours in the forest and by the river to let those shower thoughts cook; less screen time, less task-y-ness. I want to drink a little deeper and see if I can touch those rejuvenating streams I so often find when I’m on holiday. I’m not even trusting myself with novels. Poetry, Classical music and long walks. We shall see how it goes.
This Week’s Pieces
Not much to report here except the three-piece rhythm:
Poetry Club: it was lovely to hear a few reflections on Yeats’s Lake Isle this week over on Patreon and in emails from you, and to get a sense of the richness of this concept. Your accounts of your Lake Isles filled me with the spice of beauty that is so deeply nourishing.
The Philosopher’s Toolkit #1: with the Collective Action Trap, The Philosopher’s Toolkit officially got underway. I’m very happy with this and very excited for more. I am overflowing with ideas for this series, which I can see becoming a mainstay long into the future.
Weekly update: and here we are with today’s piece. I’m enjoying this cadence as I dig deeper into what’s arising and bring you more polished reflections. Going forward, these will be the three weekly pieces of content which I’ll supplement with periodical essays and videos. As the hectic output of the daily blog fades to black I’ll leave this section from future updates.
Until next time,
James