Post #3280: Noticing and gratitude

“A fulfilling writing life is one in which the creative process merges with other necessary processes of good living, which only the individual can define.”

Melissa Febos, Body Work

Noticing and gratitude are two things which spring to mind here – two things I am trying to practice with more attention. Or better said, two things I am trying to practice. To do every day so I get better at them.

Recently I’ve gotten better at living with less discipline and rigor. These are supposedly good traits but they have a tendency to produce moralism and rigidity. I am not interested in an inflexibility of spirit in my life or creative work and yet that’s the kind of structure I had erected around my life. Post-illness (covid), I don’t have the energy to rebuild those edifices – and approaching mid-life transition, I’ve got other places to be in my mind right now.

Without my structure though, I find it hard to fit in everything I want to do, let alone should be doing. I’ve had to narrow down on things somewhat, or simply practice them half as often. I don’t weave and sew every single night anymore. Sometimes I write instead because I didn’t get to it in the morning. Writing and physical exercise have remained as daily non-negotiables – though I am treading water with both a bit right now.

It’s interesting to see what remains when we get more spare with our lives.