Putting it on Paper

Do you ever feel like the universe is trying to tell you something? Or God?

What about popular culture? Your Instagram algorithm?

Well, all of the above plus a good friend recommended that I read the Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad. Subtitled “A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life”, it’s not simply something to read. It’s something to do. And I had been getting a lot of nudges from a lot of directions to do it.

The book is essentially a series of one hundred short essays by different authors and artists and thinkers. People like John Green and Elizabeth GIlbert and Gloria Steinem and Salman Rushdie. And about ninety-six others that I haven’t heard of. Interspersed between every ten or so guest spots are longer reflections by the author.

So, it ends up reading like a daily devotional. A page and a half of thoughts and reflections followed by a couple of sentences that serve as a writing prompt. And that’s the important bit. The writing prompt.

And that’s the part I needed. That we all need.

Everyone does better if we sit quietly and pray or meditate or think unfiltered thoughts. No screens. No distractions. Just sitting and letting thoughts flow in and out. Doing this does something so helpful to our bodies and our minds and our nervous system that it can be felt throughout the day. It even improves the quality of our sleep. Resetting, letting our emotions and memories come forward. Not judging or screening them.

And the Book of Alchemy builds on that by putting a pen in our hand, whispering a few words into our heart and saying go.

I’m about forty days in at this point. My routine is to read the essay while brushing my teeth in the morning. And then when I’m nearly ready to walk out the door, I sit down with a good pen and a yellow legal pad, set the timer for ten minutes and just write.

This isn't the kind of writing I had ever allowed myself to do. I have written tons but it is always for an audience. The audience may end up being two people, but it’s always to create a mood or to teach or to inspire. A lot of times it does end up helping me work through something, but it is never completely honest.

These reflections are honest. My true feelings and reflections and thoughts. Things that make me sad or embarrassed. Things that make me frustrated. And the difference between these writings and, say, a dream or a meditation is that they’re directed. So they allow deeper focus and exploration.

I have always wanted to journal and now I’m doing it and it has been a gift. One more example of grace in a life filled with it.

Holy One, thank you for this life, for your grace, and for the frequent epiphanies that somehow keep appearing this deep into our journeys. Amen

Brandon Pomeroy is a member of Peace Church. And still reads a lot more than he writes.