I have been busy writing in my paper journal lately. The experience is wholly different than livejournaling. The writing seems to be more callow and undressed.
I did many things this break. When I have more time I will recap for the sake of reflection. That is something I did much of this break: reflect. It proved to be powerful.
Reflection can take on two separate modes for me. One is passive, slow, almost regressive. The other is active, aggressive, and fastidious. I use the word regressive in the former because I find that, after much sauntering, I sometimes wake, so to speak, in unfamiliar places. This requires a slight regress in order to retrace my steps, or thoughts, back to more familiar ground. The passive reflection I speak of, with its regressive tendencies, is equally effective at discovering new ground. We go through life with our attention turned towards the seemingly pertinent details of the journey. We have a good idea of where we are going, a vague road map of the path ahead and the frontier beyond, but we seldom, if ever, consider the circumspection of our surroundings as they are. We are too busy caught up in the pace. So passive reflection can be good.
I’ll ruminate on the active reflection later.
Enough rambling for now.
William Dare 