☕ saturday mornings - august 26, 2023

life miracles, becoming alive & journaling

Tommy Dixon

Aug 26, 2023

Happy Saturday!

I hope you’re having a great start to your weekend.

What I’ve been up to:

I published an essay on feeling overwhelmed by how much I want to learn/see/do in this lifetime. From the responses, it was heartwarming to know many of you feel the same.
I did a few day hikes around Canmore/Banff, then drove four hours north to Jasper for a 3-day backcountry hike on the Skyline Trail. Walking on a ridgeline at 2,400m elevation, above the clouds and beside the glaciers, was divine.
I headed back to Canmore for a few more days of hiking. After five days without reception, I could viscerally feel my stress level rise as hundreds of emails and notifications and newsletters poured in and I flailed to catch up on all I'd missed. I'm reminded how difficult it is to truly disconnect.

As Paul Graham said, some cities speak to you, send a message. Canmore whispers: “Get Outside”.

Here are the most interesting ideas I've explored this week.

Thanks for stopping by :)

✍️ quote i’m pondering:

Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh on the miracle of life:

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.”

📚 book passage i loved:

“The influence of a vital person vitalizes.
People have this notion of changing the world by changing the rules. No — any world is a living world if it is alive. The thing is to bring it to life.
And the way to bring it to life is to become alive yourself.”

― The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

💡 idea from me: on journaling

I met a 74 year old man in Salzburg who has journaled every day of his life since he was my age.

It’s become a part of his daily motions, no different than having coffee or brushing his teeth.

He has a library of notebooks stored safely on an oak bookshelf. A record of his life. His children, now adults, sometimes ask to read old journal entries. Their 6th birthday or when they left for university or their wedding day.

This summer, I've been journaling almost every day. Beginning to feel the daily routine turn ritual. Roll over like a wave and pull me under.

Mostly in the mornings. Mostly stream of consciousness. Whatever floats to the top of my mind and demands documentation in blue ink. No filter. No judgment. I just sit in front of the blank page and listen.

Journaling is one of the best ways for me to meet my thoughts and feel my feelings.

Writing is thinking. I never know what I think until I write it down. I come to conclusions as my hand works its way across the page. Often, I surprise myself.

I stop trying to outsmart my emotions, and surrender to them instead.

I declutter my mind. Trap thoughts on the page. Leave them there so I can move on with my day. I never write things down so I can remember. I always write things down so I can forget.

Reading old journal entries, I learn the timelessness of problems. How they stubbornly reappear in different forms. How, despite my maturation, I'm still the same person. The same dog with the same few bones. The inner child never disappears despite the illusion of distance.

September 3, 2018. My first day of university. Nearly 5 years ago. I read the words "trust yourself and your abilities" in smudged pencil and chuckle.

it’d make my day if you shared with a friend :)

When was the last time you did something you’ve never done before?

I've noticed how inertia can be a governing force in my life.

Sam Altman: Not only does doing new things seem to slow down the perception of time, increase happiness, and keep life interesting, but it seems to prevent people from calcifying in the ways that they think. Aim to do something big, new, and risky every year in your personal and professional life.

📸 photo of the week:

Thank you for reading! It means a lot to me :)

Spread the love—If you want to support my work, the best way to do so is by sharing it with others who would enjoy it.

Beyond that, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it.

Get in touch—If my writing resonated or if you just want to be friends, please reach out 😊 Reply to this email, leave a comment, or find me on Twitter!

With love,

Tommy