“Brother and sister I’ve seen some astonishing sites”. Family members who hadn’t spoken in years because of petty differences now reconnecting-amazing grace, being mentally ill for 7 years and learning in those years how to set myself free, living at a Buddhist Retreat Center for two years, and coming back to NYC totally transformed into a person I love and deeply respect, always astonished at Souleika’s bravery while facing the demands of her wellness, while going thru the darkness of mental illness, my husband at the time, standing right beside me and not leaving, realizing vulnerability is a gift, and how important it is when I create, write and share my stories to a live audience who connect with my vulnerability, working so hard on transformation from the inside and because of it the gift of wisdom, witnessing how brave many people are to fight for democracy, and always amazed at how loving one self and others can transform so many wounds, and hugs, plain old hugs, can heal my wounded heart. May grace always be in our lives and may the astonishment of being fully alive, no matter what, always walk with us. On this day of Christmas, Hanukah and kwanza, may we truly understand the beauty of our differences. And may the love of my life come along when I least expect it and astonish me! Love to all of you.
Yearning for reconciliation. Three years of Covid with a hubby who has PTSD after serving in a war zone fifty years ago. Isolation became solace for me as I couldn’t bear to listen or speak with friends who handled it differently. Isolation was also a fenced in yard as our circle was so small. Then came another war. I don’t post much but the effort to have joy sit next to sorrow is so worth it. I’m 71 now, we are getting wonderful counseling at our local vet center and most days I feel hopeful. Thank you community for walking this path together. Christine in Oakland California.
I am glad you are able to be hopeful Christine. I've come to believe that the best energy/action I can put forth is hope. Hope for myself, my wife, the people I love, the people I don't love and the world we live in. I hope you and your husband find some peace and connection thorough your counselling and that he know that he is valued , appreciated for the priceless sacrifice he made 50 years ago.
Thanks for your comment and I agree. A world without hope cannot succeed. And I read today a comment that people are not like plates, thrown away when they are chipped. How to accept each other’s chips and still find joy in the relationship…..seems to be the task of the moment. Speaking from the heart, my best to you and your wife.
I’m not what I call a resolutionary. I strive to improve every day. But New Years does bring new hopes. I just want to work on being more creative in any way. I love the prompts because they are spontaneous and force me yo think outside of my box. I look forward to the weekly prompts and gratitude Fridays. I haven’t joined the hatch yet so hope to jump in “next year”.
Paradox prompt
Friend I’ve seen amazing things.
Touching a wolf. Howling with a wolf.
The unexpected kindness of someone you didn’t think was a friend.
The light in the dark cold sky.
The resilience of the human spirit in what seems to be hopeless.
"...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..." Beautifully said.
Thank you for your inspiration.
A dear new friend who I read with, said to me, "I am the miraculous accumulation of all all the people and experiences of my life."
I love thinking about that.
In this new year, may I continue to become my self.
Merry Christmas and I hope today brings you the delight and magic children feel as they wake up this morning.
Suleika your column was my first gift this day and it may be my favorite present of the day! I love Sundays as I read your column first thing, starting my day off n the right path.
In the new year I would love to see accountability. I am stalling on doing rewrites for a self published collection and need a “push.”
Happy Holidays! I'm new to this group and am so awed by the kindness, inspiration, and creativity of Suleika as well as this community. One thing I want to focus on in 2023 is consistency- specifically consistency in my creative life, journaling, how I show up in the work I do, personal goals I want to accomplish to name a few. I'm looking forward to the inspiration and encouragement of this community in 2023!
As I prepare to start working on the sequel to an academic study (published this year) in the new year, I hunger for ways to get back into regular routines. So many of mine were upended in the second half of this year by promotional efforts related to the first book that I lost the focus necessary to draft and revise and finish the second. Academic work is also creative, though some may not agree; balancing the critical with the creative is part of the creativity, I think -- keeping one's voice while making an argument can be difficult. I've often learned from those who write poetry, fiction, essays, and memoir even though what is shared may not seem addressed to academic writers. I've certainly learned from the Isolation Journals and from the many people who struggle to keep their creative lights burning. What helps me most are ideas about ways to keep at it, ways to tease one's path back into focus, ways to keep going after faltering. Thank you for all you do, Suleika. Whatever challenges you pose for us in 2023 will inspire, I know. All my warmest wishes to everyone at this wonderful site . . .
I lost my beloved dog Pal 2 weeks ago tomorrow. I've been desolate ever since and have cried every day. We were together 24/7 for 12 years. The house is empty, my heart hurts. I'm sharing this because i read about Oscar, your sweet pooch, Suleika. My boy must've had a similar cancer because he was doing fine and then suddenly over 3 days he lost ground and died. It was stunning since i really didn't know he was so sick until he stopped eating. He was the center of my world and now there is a gaping hole in my heart. May Oscar and Pal be at peace. I aware that they loved us as much as we loved them. The grief will be expressed over time in many tears and perhaps some awfully happy things we shared together. Right now i am a shell. 78yrs old. I live alone and am disabled. He was my everything and i could love him without fear of ever being left or betrayed. A quote from Will Rogers "If i get to heaven and there are no dogs, i wanna go where they go" I really do!!!
I’m so sorry for your loss! I understand the grief of losing a pet. I also lost two dogs to Cancer. And both seemed ok until they weren’t ok. I hope you find light through your deep sadness!
What a perfect gift to start my morning. Such deep gratitude to you Suleika for providing space and inspiration and heart filled sentiment of such a wide range of emotions. I have never met you but I love you for being you and sharing your life with the community you have created and which I love being part of -- and what I learn about me through the isolation journals. You helped bring painting back into my life and writing ✍️ and poetry too. Bowing deep in gratitude ❤️🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
I’m not a “painter”, per se, as I tend to dabble in all sorts of arts/crafts so haven’t quite figured out what my niche is, but relate to this on a deep level. I know there doesn’t have to be just one thing, but if I’m constantly ready to jump into something new, I can’t be present with what I’m working on in the moment and keeps me from ever finishing anything or mastering a skill. Sure, I can chalk some of it up to being easily distracted, but the reality is that so much goes back to perfectionism and fear.
What is the why behind your creative impulse? What is your intention?
Internally driven? Externally? Feels like that. Do you enjoy the creative process?
Are you creating for yourself, or to get a reaction, hopefully positive, from others?
"stay out of your head, it's a bad neighborhood".......forgot the movie this came from
In writing Hemingway always talked about writing just ' One true sentence"
then from there , every sentence builds on that truth...........
same here in any creative process.........
Be the brush....be the paint. be the clay. be the pen and throw yourself onto the surface allowing what wants to be seen or held to come into form. Let what is your truth inform every stroke and others will feel a connection to whatever is created by your hands.
Astonishing sites for me are astonishing sometimes because they seemed so improbable before they occurred. Last week at an annual "Cousin's Christmas" party I had a pleasant and natural interaction with a person I generally don't like and wouldn't choose to be around. I left with a smile for him.
Our granddaughter is now in full recovery from addiction and has a little boy -30 months old- who we look after once per week. This amazing, energetic and sweet boy is frequently astonished by everyday, mundane things, like a school bus going by "coobus" he calls it. His astonishment is contagious and invites my wife and I to join his whenever we are with him.
My most sustained astonishment comes from witnessing myself picking up my Isolation Journal and writing in it, not every day, and more often than I ever have before! Even more astonishing is the increased absence of judgement or criticism from my inner editor who for years held me back from writing anything without a sword of Damocles deadline hanging over my head.
The main inspiration and motivation for bringing about this change is you Suleika! Your belief about journaling, your devotion to the habit, your faith in the self revelatory process of reflection in writing has opened a door to me. The idea that I can confess/express/understand myself in writing has become a new world. So I frequently read your words at the front of my journal to remind me of what my purpose is when I start to write. This is now becoming and adventure. I don't know where it leads. Best of all, I don't have to.
“Brother and sister I’ve seen some astonishing sites”. Family members who hadn’t spoken in years because of petty differences now reconnecting-amazing grace, being mentally ill for 7 years and learning in those years how to set myself free, living at a Buddhist Retreat Center for two years, and coming back to NYC totally transformed into a person I love and deeply respect, always astonished at Souleika’s bravery while facing the demands of her wellness, while going thru the darkness of mental illness, my husband at the time, standing right beside me and not leaving, realizing vulnerability is a gift, and how important it is when I create, write and share my stories to a live audience who connect with my vulnerability, working so hard on transformation from the inside and because of it the gift of wisdom, witnessing how brave many people are to fight for democracy, and always amazed at how loving one self and others can transform so many wounds, and hugs, plain old hugs, can heal my wounded heart. May grace always be in our lives and may the astonishment of being fully alive, no matter what, always walk with us. On this day of Christmas, Hanukah and kwanza, may we truly understand the beauty of our differences. And may the love of my life come along when I least expect it and astonish me! Love to all of you.
“May the love of my life”: Brilliant! I must remember this. Your words nurture my Spirit. Blessings to all on this day of new beginnings.
Sent with love to you ❤️
❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🔥
Bravo! Lovely!
Laurie your comment is deeply appreciated. Sherri
Incredible
I Spy some hopeful sights 👀
Cats are coined women’s best friend 🐈⬛
Downward mobility is the way up and humility is fulfillment ⬇️🔝
Pick-up is surrender, not bootstraps 🥾
Strength is weakness and kindness is crushing it 💪🏾
FaceTime = InPerson Time 👫
“To be” ≠ To do”✌️🏼
We live forever ∞
I love this!
Yearning for reconciliation. Three years of Covid with a hubby who has PTSD after serving in a war zone fifty years ago. Isolation became solace for me as I couldn’t bear to listen or speak with friends who handled it differently. Isolation was also a fenced in yard as our circle was so small. Then came another war. I don’t post much but the effort to have joy sit next to sorrow is so worth it. I’m 71 now, we are getting wonderful counseling at our local vet center and most days I feel hopeful. Thank you community for walking this path together. Christine in Oakland California.
I am glad you are able to be hopeful Christine. I've come to believe that the best energy/action I can put forth is hope. Hope for myself, my wife, the people I love, the people I don't love and the world we live in. I hope you and your husband find some peace and connection thorough your counselling and that he know that he is valued , appreciated for the priceless sacrifice he made 50 years ago.
Charles,
Thanks for your comment and I agree. A world without hope cannot succeed. And I read today a comment that people are not like plates, thrown away when they are chipped. How to accept each other’s chips and still find joy in the relationship…..seems to be the task of the moment. Speaking from the heart, my best to you and your wife.
❤️
🙌🙌🫰🫰🫰
My daughters first breath
Death, over my left shoulder.
Precisely where Don Juan Matus mentioned it would be.
Everything behind my eyelids when they are closed.
Trees
On Tulum beach 2007, the asteroid which soared towards the horizon
where it exploded into pieces entering the atmosphere. The unknown woman
laying in the hammock close by, and I turned our eyes towards each other in awe,
and sat in silence.
We were married within a year.
Fellow humans I have seen some astonishing sights.
Double rainbows over my city.
Trees that have survived for thousands of years.
Coral and fish under the ocean.
The Grand Canyon and other natural wonders.
A rocket soaring into outer space.
The love of a mother for her child.
Strangers helping strangers.
Advances in medicine to lead to healing.
Compassionate care of the dying.
Forgiveness of a grievous offense.
The capacity to hold onto the possibility of hope despite the probability.
Very Merry holidays to everyone.
I’m not what I call a resolutionary. I strive to improve every day. But New Years does bring new hopes. I just want to work on being more creative in any way. I love the prompts because they are spontaneous and force me yo think outside of my box. I look forward to the weekly prompts and gratitude Fridays. I haven’t joined the hatch yet so hope to jump in “next year”.
Paradox prompt
Friend I’ve seen amazing things.
Touching a wolf. Howling with a wolf.
The unexpected kindness of someone you didn’t think was a friend.
The light in the dark cold sky.
The resilience of the human spirit in what seems to be hopeless.
The ability to laugh when there is sadness.
When good wins.
Hope and gratitude winning over despair.
Laughter in the face of life’s hard knocks.
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Much love to everyone❤️. See you next year
Beautiful spirit you are Laurie
Thank you for your kind words!
Laughter in the face of sadness 🫰🫰🫰🔥
"...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..." Beautifully said.
Thank you for your inspiration.
A dear new friend who I read with, said to me, "I am the miraculous accumulation of all all the people and experiences of my life."
I love thinking about that.
In this new year, may I continue to become my self.
A dear new friend who I read with, said to me, "I am the miraculous accumulation of all all the people and experiences of my life."
I love thinking about that.
In this new year, may I continue to become my self.
Liz, this resonates so much with me. Thank you for sharing. We are all miraculous accumulations. ❤️
I've seen some astonishing sites/sights.
*Joy finally returning to my daughter after the fog of a six-year illness, with the root cause, finally found
*I can now get my head to touch the ground in wide-angle pose after a daily practice a year and a half in the making.
*I watched a variety of baby birds who had fledged, being fed by their parents at my bird feeders this past Sunday.
*I saw my dad cry.
*I had a Zoom call with an editor who gave me the most exciting news.
*I cried in the shower in grief over loss and when the tears stopped, my breath was deep.
*I shared in friendships through The Isolation Journals and because of this site.
*I feel hope in my soul, a lightness in my step, a steely conviction in my whole self, and a song in my heart.
Merry Christmas and I hope today brings you the delight and magic children feel as they wake up this morning.
Suleika your column was my first gift this day and it may be my favorite present of the day! I love Sundays as I read your column first thing, starting my day off n the right path.
In the new year I would love to see accountability. I am stalling on doing rewrites for a self published collection and need a “push.”
🙌🙌❤️
I know you won’t give up Carol!
Happy Holidays! I'm new to this group and am so awed by the kindness, inspiration, and creativity of Suleika as well as this community. One thing I want to focus on in 2023 is consistency- specifically consistency in my creative life, journaling, how I show up in the work I do, personal goals I want to accomplish to name a few. I'm looking forward to the inspiration and encouragement of this community in 2023!
As I prepare to start working on the sequel to an academic study (published this year) in the new year, I hunger for ways to get back into regular routines. So many of mine were upended in the second half of this year by promotional efforts related to the first book that I lost the focus necessary to draft and revise and finish the second. Academic work is also creative, though some may not agree; balancing the critical with the creative is part of the creativity, I think -- keeping one's voice while making an argument can be difficult. I've often learned from those who write poetry, fiction, essays, and memoir even though what is shared may not seem addressed to academic writers. I've certainly learned from the Isolation Journals and from the many people who struggle to keep their creative lights burning. What helps me most are ideas about ways to keep at it, ways to tease one's path back into focus, ways to keep going after faltering. Thank you for all you do, Suleika. Whatever challenges you pose for us in 2023 will inspire, I know. All my warmest wishes to everyone at this wonderful site . . .
Merry Christmas and happy new year 2023
❤️❤️
I lost my beloved dog Pal 2 weeks ago tomorrow. I've been desolate ever since and have cried every day. We were together 24/7 for 12 years. The house is empty, my heart hurts. I'm sharing this because i read about Oscar, your sweet pooch, Suleika. My boy must've had a similar cancer because he was doing fine and then suddenly over 3 days he lost ground and died. It was stunning since i really didn't know he was so sick until he stopped eating. He was the center of my world and now there is a gaping hole in my heart. May Oscar and Pal be at peace. I aware that they loved us as much as we loved them. The grief will be expressed over time in many tears and perhaps some awfully happy things we shared together. Right now i am a shell. 78yrs old. I live alone and am disabled. He was my everything and i could love him without fear of ever being left or betrayed. A quote from Will Rogers "If i get to heaven and there are no dogs, i wanna go where they go" I really do!!!
Tears for you
for your beloved Pal
for everything you wrote
for all the dogs we’ve said goodbye to
for all the love they gave us
for all the emptiness when they left
Hugs.
I’m so sorry for your loss! I understand the grief of losing a pet. I also lost two dogs to Cancer. And both seemed ok until they weren’t ok. I hope you find light through your deep sadness!
My mantra through a very troubled second half of 2022 was:
If I lose my composure, I lose my leverage.
Because friends, I’ve seen a lot that challenges that very concept.
I’m taking this affirmation with me into 2023.
Love y’all for everything you bring with your posts. And Suleika, I love you, girl.
What a perfect gift to start my morning. Such deep gratitude to you Suleika for providing space and inspiration and heart filled sentiment of such a wide range of emotions. I have never met you but I love you for being you and sharing your life with the community you have created and which I love being part of -- and what I learn about me through the isolation journals. You helped bring painting back into my life and writing ✍️ and poetry too. Bowing deep in gratitude ❤️🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
For 2023 I’m looking to befriend my chronic fear of succeeding as a painter and working along side her to finally make painting a source of income.
Perhaps experiment with deleting the story of " success" , and watch what opens up.
Fear is a trick.
I’m not a “painter”, per se, as I tend to dabble in all sorts of arts/crafts so haven’t quite figured out what my niche is, but relate to this on a deep level. I know there doesn’t have to be just one thing, but if I’m constantly ready to jump into something new, I can’t be present with what I’m working on in the moment and keeps me from ever finishing anything or mastering a skill. Sure, I can chalk some of it up to being easily distracted, but the reality is that so much goes back to perfectionism and fear.
What is the why behind your creative impulse? What is your intention?
Internally driven? Externally? Feels like that. Do you enjoy the creative process?
Are you creating for yourself, or to get a reaction, hopefully positive, from others?
"stay out of your head, it's a bad neighborhood".......forgot the movie this came from
In writing Hemingway always talked about writing just ' One true sentence"
then from there , every sentence builds on that truth...........
same here in any creative process.........
Be the brush....be the paint. be the clay. be the pen and throw yourself onto the surface allowing what wants to be seen or held to come into form. Let what is your truth inform every stroke and others will feel a connection to whatever is created by your hands.
Awesome. Love this. I have a good painter friend in Manhattan who lives on her art. Incredible yo see.
Astonishing sites for me are astonishing sometimes because they seemed so improbable before they occurred. Last week at an annual "Cousin's Christmas" party I had a pleasant and natural interaction with a person I generally don't like and wouldn't choose to be around. I left with a smile for him.
Our granddaughter is now in full recovery from addiction and has a little boy -30 months old- who we look after once per week. This amazing, energetic and sweet boy is frequently astonished by everyday, mundane things, like a school bus going by "coobus" he calls it. His astonishment is contagious and invites my wife and I to join his whenever we are with him.
My most sustained astonishment comes from witnessing myself picking up my Isolation Journal and writing in it, not every day, and more often than I ever have before! Even more astonishing is the increased absence of judgement or criticism from my inner editor who for years held me back from writing anything without a sword of Damocles deadline hanging over my head.
The main inspiration and motivation for bringing about this change is you Suleika! Your belief about journaling, your devotion to the habit, your faith in the self revelatory process of reflection in writing has opened a door to me. The idea that I can confess/express/understand myself in writing has become a new world. So I frequently read your words at the front of my journal to remind me of what my purpose is when I start to write. This is now becoming and adventure. I don't know where it leads. Best of all, I don't have to.
❤️❤️❤️