There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest vision. At such times there is a song going on within us, a song to which we listen. It fills us with surprise. We marvel at it. We would continue to hear it. But few are capable of holding themselves in the state of listening to their song. Intellectuality steps in and as the song within us is of the utmost sensitiveness, it retires in the presence of the cold, material intellect. It is aristocratic and will not associate itself with the commonplace — and we fall back and become our ordinary selves. Yet we live in the memory of these songs which in moments of intellectual inadvertence have been possible to us. They are the pinnacles of our experience and it is the desire to express these intimate sensations, this song from within, which motivates the masters of all art.
- Robert Henri, The Art Spirit
Nothing was ever so unfamiliar and startling to me as my own thoughts . . .My journal should be the record of my love. I would write in it only of the things I love, my affection for any aspect of the world, what I love to think of. . . I feel ripe for something. . . yet can't discover what that thing is. I feel fertile merely. It is seed time with me. I have lain fallow long enough.
- Henry David Thoreau, in his journal. Thoreau And The Art Of Life.
Nurturing The Song Within:
Journal Meditations Of A Working Artist
The hardest thing you can ask of a human being
Is to manifest their inner beauty, their individual nature
Out of that which they’ve inherited from the collective universe.
I’ve been keeping journals off and on since my early teens. I came to the realization a couple of years ago that my life worked a lot better, had a flow, a synchronicity when I kept a journal. When I didn’t keep one, for instance because thought I was too busy, or because I thought it wouldn’t add anything important to my life, my life, seen in retrospect, lacked flow, and was out of balance. Those were the years of wasted effort and setbacks. I want to share what I’ve learned.
In the first issue of The Song Within (published January 2, 2024), I explored the use of journaling in creating a dream, a vision, for the year ahead. We create our reality, in part, out of our imagination. It offered excerpts from my own recent end of year journal entries. I reflect on similar journal entries of the last twenty years. What dreams became reality? Those with passion, emotion, behind them.
You can read the inaugural issue here.
Published four or five times a week. The Song Within explores the use of journaling as a tool in understanding one's life, in creating art and in creating a life.
There is an inner myth guiding each of our lives, generally unknown to us. Use your journal to explore that. What do the patterns of your life indicate about the myth you are living without realizing it?
What is seeking to unfold in your life? Where does the energy want to go? Where does your energy multiply, grow exponentially? What is your potential as a human being, your potential to add to the lives of others? What is your unique contribution?
Ultimately, the goal is to live in harmony with your inner life. How would you describe that relationship?
What are the ten or twelve highlights of your life? The ten events or experiences that expanded your horizons in terms of the potentials of life, of living a fulfilling life?
What is the goal of your life? Discovering that is the great experiment of a life.
Examples of topics explored:
Living in harmony with your inner life — expect setbacks but persist.
Dreams. What dreams do you try to ignore? Which dreams have that special energy behind them; what dreams won’t let go of your imagination?
Paths considered in the past but not taken. Do they offer opportunities now?
Common characteristics, if any, of successes, triumphs and characteristics of periods of frustration, setbacks and failures in your life. What do they tell you about who you are and where you are going?
The use of guides. Dialog with your future self. Dialog with your creativity. How are you treating it?
The forgotten dreams of your youth.
Getting below the surface with meditation, self-hypnosis, shamanic drumming,
What is the inner myth that has been guiding your life, unknown to yourself? Understanding the current that underlies your life, the major events, their connections, and what they suggest about the energy current underlying your life. Where does that energy want to go, however illogical? It looks for places and work where it can grow, multiply.
The nature of time and reverence for life.
Gratitude.
Self-love, the nature of flaws.
Truths especially those we’d rather not explore.
Sleep, rest, downtime, relaxation, fallow. Silence. Solitude. All work of beauty, and indeed a life of beauty, evolves out of the still point.
Who, what do you serve?
Dialogue with your health.
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The Song Within e-journal is the preliminary first draft of a book and day planner to be published in early March 2024.
You can learn more here.
You can order here.
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are now available here.
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