9.21.2023
Amed, Bali
Dear Friend,
I love writing. I’m having so much fun working on this book now. I’ve gone through some dark spells, you know. It was a rough start and a deep gully to survive through in the first “semester” or quarter or however we are measuring. I’d like to think I’m at the half way mark now. I’m flying down hill with daily practice. My eye watches the clock 7-10am is the designated writing time, followed by the writing of this letter of reflection, preceded by hours of tea-sipping, walking, meditation, stretching on a lacrosse ball, and waiting for the sun to show up so I can see the paper clearly enough to write on it. My last candle extinguished its own life this morning. I sat in darkness as the stars bowed out one by one.
I’m still listening to Persian instrumental music as I type this story. Today, I’m referring to the ever humorous poetry of Hafiz (see his book “The Gift” for my little droplets of inspiration). I’ve also been reading Inner Engineering by Sadhguru and Secrets of Divine Love by A. Helwa; both are keeping me inline with my spiritual practices as I delve into my imagination. Can I write from a place of deep wisdom? How much of my writing is purely ego? How many parts of myself are taking over to write this book? How Self led am I…actually? How Self led do I actually need to be in a project like this? As much as I want I suppose. The book becomes a blend of wonderfully ridiculous wordplay, joyfully sculpted highbrow communication of my philosophies, and raw expression for the purpose of healing what needs to be touched by the light. Oh look at me go…haha. What a simple joy to play with words. I can build an entire universe, construct an entirely new identify, and then destroy it all and build something new again. It’s madness on paper. This must be the feeling of God. Delightful.
My heart was sparkling with joy as I leaned over the edge of the sailboat and peered into this turquoise water in Komodo National Park in Indonesia. — Sept 2023
The more I write, the more each letter becomes a color and each words takes on a shape. The sentences are movement and paragraphs are dances with many limbs. The whole book is an amalgamation of many art forms wrestling to have their way with me.
Today was big. I reached the end of part 1. I now have a complete, almost complete, journey from start to the end of the first section of the story. Now my fun task for the rest of the day is to go through each sub-section and sprinkle in little clues. I have core themes that I needed to weave through the whole story so my strategy is to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, one little hint in each section.
Since I’m writing about mermaids, one of my themes is legs, feet, tails and fins. Can I somehow drop a mention of feet or fins on each page, subtle and artistic…little Easter eggs everywhere? This type of embellishing work is some of the most fun I have inside this writing project. I have no idea how it will translate to the reader or how effective it will be…maybe I’m walking down the wrong path and my feet are leading me astray (hehe)…well, at least I’m having a good time while I learn through my own mistakes.
Love & Rainbows,
Cha Wilde