Connecting the Jots
TAoN No. 178: Diaries of passing moments. Plus a new Icebreaker, and more.
There’s something I’ve been lying to you about, and today I’ll clear it up. It’s about journals and diaries and notebooks. On multiple occasions I’ve mentioned that I have never been able to sustain a journal of any kind. But the truth is that over the last eleven months or so, I have done just that.
Sort of.
I’m ‘fessing up to this now because the practice seems ingrained enough that I think I can really claim it.1 But also because my fellow reluctant diarists may find it useful.
Last February, I decided to write down 3-5 good things I noticed over the course of a day — sort of a version of a daily gratitude exercise, but partly just noting moments of actual awareness and clarity. That first day’s entry, for instance, includes “sound of leaves falling.”
Over the weeks I drifted away from gratitiude-y vibe altogether and focused fully on those mini-episodes of attention.2 These aren’t especially designed to be revisisted, and definitely aren’t intended to communicate with third parties. These are just for me, and for just right now — the diary of a passing moment.
Put another way, they are just stuff I jotted down.
Really, this is the first time I’ve even bothered to page back through this jotting, and I can hardly read my own handwriting. Some jotted entries:
Small red flower
Rain smell
Fog horn
Cat shadow
Slice-y clouds
Lizard eye
It doesn’t really matter if if the jottiing calls to mind the specifics of, say, someone’s notable outfit on the street, a remark from a stranger at the grocery store, a neighborhood kid dancing on the sidewalk, or the loud crow in the Walmart parking lot this morning. In fact, it doesn’t actually matter if I observe something and forget to jot it down at all.
What matters is the observing. The point of the jotting is to spur me to awareness. The practice serves as a low-grade yet constant reminder:
What have I taken note of today? Not with my pen, but with my self. Look around; turn on all the senses; be in the moment; pay attention.
I think what’s kept me jotting is, in part, these seemingly modest expectations. Zillions of words have probably been written on the virtues of journaling — it’s kind of the burpee of creative-attention exercises: everybody already knows that everybody already knows it’s a good thing, but recommends it again anyway. Because it’s a good thing!
Still, any journal can do only so much, and I don’t expect my jotting to have some extravagent payoff. I just know that on days when I didn’t notice anything to jot about, that means something is off with me — and it’s time to step back and reset.
The jots are just a gesture, but one that keeps me connected.
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Noticing is about other people, too. The Icebreaker series aims to help with that. There’s a central collection spot for all the icebreakers to date, here.
Today’s icebreaker comes from reader Ashleigh:
"If you could be a celebrity's sibling, who would it be?"
Ashleigh moderates a team icebreaker session on Monday mornings, and adds: “I found this one to be funny.” Indeed! Thanks Ashleigh!
Please send your favorite icebreaker (whether you made it up or found it elsewhere) to consumed@robwalker.net. If I use your icebreaker you’ll get a free three-month sub to the paid edition of TAoN (or some other fun prize if you’re already a supporter).
IN OTHER NEWS
How to help LA artists affected by the fires, by Mason Currey. Also worth reading: this dispatch from Geoff Manaugh. Sending the most positive thoughts to those affected by the fires.
For the month of January, I’ve invited TAoN supporters to notice (and “savor”) shadows, and some have been posting really great photos. I’ve tweaked the thread settings so anyone can view, here.
Hooked rugs that look like sleeping dogs. Weird but captivatinig but weird.
I’m a big fan of the Odd Lots podcast, on curious corners of business and finance, from Bloomberg. This episode rounds up the ten most interesting things the hosts learned in 2024.
The case for doing your own chores.
“Recontextualizing is the way that music works.” It’s the way creativity works, is it not?
“After a 50-year break, Archigram – the infamous group of pioneering architectural theorists – has reformed and published a new issue of its eponymous publication.”
The murals of Fábio Gomez. Great stuff.
I enjoyed learning about music critic/composer Tom Johnson from this obit. He once reviewed the “impressive performance” of a mockingbird, and his compositions included this clever and amusing (and recontextualizing) piece, titled “Failing”:
OKAY THAT’S IT!
As always, I value your feedback: suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, etc. Constructive insults may be directed at me, not at anyone else. I also welcome your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers, at consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.
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Some of you may have heard me mention it on the Waking Up app as part of a more general look at journaling.
Later I became aware of Spencer Tweedy’s excellent Observations project, which I really admired (the book version is super cool), but I should be clear that his observations are thoughtfully composed and worth revisiting. Mine, by intention, really aren’t. But if you’re interested in this more impressionistic diary of moments, check out his project for sure!
I do this with photos on my iPhone. When I see something beautiful or unusual I capture that image. Later I create albums— roses, waterfalls, family. Sometimes when I am distressed I go back and immerse myself in these beautiful photos and the days they recall. It helps.
Dani Shapiro shared an excellent exercise in her book, “Still Writing” (GREAT audiobook): Take a page and divide it into quadrants. Label the first quad “I Saw.” Label the second quad “I Heard.” Label the third quad “I Did.” Then label the fourth quad “Doodle.” List salient moments from your day in each quad, then draw a doodle! Even though I suck at doodling, the doodles I’ve made are special, and reflect my experience of a given day. It’s a great practice!