Prompt 223. Your Key to the Universe

& an upside-down poem by Kabir on paradoxes

Jasper and River

Hi friend,

This is the last newsletter of 2022, and I want to start by saying thank you for carrying me through this year of enormous paradoxes—of setbacks and progress, of confusion and clarity, of sorrow and joy. I have never felt so loved by so many people I’ve never met.

What I appreciate just as much is that you extend your love and support not only to me, but to each other as well. I see it every week in the comments section of this newsletter, and in our Facebook group, and in the precious souls who show up month after month at the Hatch, our virtual creative hour. It truly astonishes me.

Astonish—it’s a good word for this time of year. The nights are at their longest, yet it seems like there’s light everywhere you turn, dancing above the menorah, twinkling on the Christmas trees. The contrast is so powerful to me: the wide velvet darkness against the glittering brightness. It’s such a perfect expression of hope. 

Today I’m sharing a poem on astonishment by the ancient mystic poet Kabir, and a prompt that asks you to contemplate mystery and paradox to reach new understanding. I think that’s the essence of what we do here at the Isolation Journals. We transform life’s interruptions into creative grist, transmute isolation into creative solitude and connection, and with each pen stroke, we better understand the world and our place in it. We unlock the puzzle—or we start to, anyway.

Which brings me to one final note: about a new beginning. It’s become a tradition here at the Isolation Journals to kick off the New Year with a creative challenge. In 2021, we started with ten days of journaling. Last year, we did some habit-stacking, sharing a special breathing meditation and seven of our favorite evergreen prompts. 

Now I’m wondering, what are you yearning for in the New Year? Is it building new routines or rituals? Accountability? Creative inspiration? Consistency? Let me know in the comments—we have some special plans in the works and would love to tailor them to your needs.

Sending you all the love and light,

Suleika

Some Items of Note—

• I just sent out Dear Susu #11: On Hoarding, Grief, and Asking for What You Need. The question this time was from “Fed Up with Stuff,” whose husband’s capacity for hoarding has reached what she sees as its ultimate expression and who is desperate for change. Paid subscribers can read it here!

• Last Sunday was our monthly meeting of the Hatch, our virtual creative hour. This month’s theme was the power and beauty of darkness, inspired by the winter solstice and Patricia Smith’s poem “The Sun, Mad Envious, Just Wants the Moon.” If you missed it—or want to revisit—click here.

• Over at the Isolation Journals Chat, you can join us in our weekly ritual: our collective list of small joys. It’s a gorgeous chorus that’s both anchor and a buoy. Tap the button below to add your small joy to this week’s thread.

Caroline’s Rose (NGC 7789)/Guillaume Seigneuret

Prompt 223. “Brother, I’ve Seen Some Astonishing Sights,” inspired by Kabir

Brother, I’ve seen some
     Astonishing sights:
A lion keeping watch
     Over pasturing cows;
A mother delivered
     After her son was;
A guru prostrated
     Before his disciple;
Fish spawning
     On treetops;               
A cat carrying away
     A dog;
A gunny-sack
     Driving a bullock-cart;
A buffalo going out to graze,
     Sitting on a horse;
A tree with its branches in the earth,
     Its roots in the sky;
A tree with flowering roots.

This verse, says Kabir,
     Is your key to the universe.
If you can figure it out.

            trans. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Your prompt for the week:

Compose a list of astonishing sights. They can be real or invented—from stunning visions, to moments from your own life that encapsulate both high and low, to inversions of the normal order. Explore paradox. Ponder mystery. Discover a new way of seeing. If you’d like, begin with the line, “Brother (or Sister, or Friend), I’ve seen some astonishing sights…”

If you’d like, you can post your response in the comments section, in our Facebook group, or on Instagram by tagging @theisolationjournals.

Kabir was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint. His enigmatic poems—called ulatbamsi, or “poems in upside-down language”—often provoke the reader toward new ways of seeing. The poem was translated from Hindi by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, whose work includes the Songs of Kabir, Collected Poems and Ghalib: A Diary.

For more paid subscriber benefits, see—

• A Mother’s Ashes & the Subject of Stuff, an installment of Dear Susu where I answer the question, “How do I broach the subject of my husband’s hoarding?”

• On Failure as Success, a video replay of our Studio Visit with Jon Batiste, where we talked about the value of rejection

• A New Year’s Breath Session, a calming meditation by Taylor Somerville to help you stay grounded during the holidays