Karen Armstrong's "A History of God" has been mesmerizing. It's dense, but it's introduced me to Al-Ghazali (whose crisis of faith is quite touching) and the mystics. It's also been an interesting reminder of how ecumenical Islam was at its inception (and still is for many). Armstrong has a biography of Muhammad that I'm looking forward to reading next. She is a former nun who now sees research as her faith practice. And from what I can tell, she really does approach research in a mystical way, trying to inhabit the worlds and emotional circumstances that defined faith for the people she studies, trying to feel and believe as they felt and believed.
I haven't read "A History of God" but yes her biography of Muhammad is supposed to be very good and was something my parents would recommend to lots of folks when I was growing up.
Now you've tempted me to read "A History of God". She's quite the scholar.
Re your comment about Islam being ecumenical at its inception, I think this is what I was trying to articulate in many of our past conversations ... There is a certain ethos that has been neglected by the so called "leaders" in the current era of mainstream Islam, but which you'll find many practitioners are still paying close attention to and following.
I love morning pages! I’ve been doing gem since 2017. I find that they announce things to me that later occur—like my psyche knows what’s for me, and it’s just waiting for me to self-actualize enough to get there. I can look back at my journals and see a map to the life I’ve built, including concrete details like the house we live in. Back in 2017 I kept writing about living next to a baseball field. Now, we have one right outside our back gate.
Well that helps a little in keeping me motivated to do these stupid pages. I'm on day 3 and while the first two days were ok (even though I really really just wanted to sleep in) today was the hardest because I had to get up for work which meant I had to set the alarm a half hour earlier to get up for morning pages. And it was a STRUGGLE.
I had every intention of going to bed early. I even denied my poor husband a movie last night because "I have to get up earlier to do my morning pages" and then I went up to bed and read for an hour because I am my own worst enemy... Literally the first thing I wrote in my morning pages this morning (with my eyes heavy and my exhaustion beckoning me back to bed) was "I hate these stupid morning pages. I'm so tired."
I can hear the censor etc in every word right now, and I'm hoping that fades and I get to the spot that is my psyche knowing what's for me, but right now it just feels a lot like a whiny 9th grader's journal and I haven't journaled for a long time...
I have questions: do you do them first thing in the morning? Like, before you see anyone or talk to anyone? Or if that doesn't quite work out and you end up doing something else for an hour and then getting to them, is that ok too?
I try to do them first thing but it can be challenging, so I get to them as soon as I can. Mine have dwindled to a single page now, which makes it a bit easier. I usually take about 7 minutes :) just enough to open the tap!
OK that is a bit of a relief. I think I need to aim for 3 pages for now since I'm still so early and so blocked but down to one eventually sounds heavenly...
Right now I feel like there's so little in the tank that by the time I write the three pages I a) want to go back to bed and b) will have no more to write.
But I'm aware of what Julia Cameron says, about writers actually having the hardest time with morning pages because they try to make them into something pretty instead of just making them an exercise... Mine are very not pretty right now. But I think even recognizing the pressure I have that every single time I sit down and write I want something beautiful to leak from me is a valuable observation. UGH. I still hate this lol.
I agree with all of this, especially your commitment to doing it as advertised for the 12 weeks! It works for a reason :) you gotta dump years worth of stuff and then the clarity emerges.
I will Whatsapp you immediately but my sweet summer child are you really gonna attempt morning pages with a newborn? If so, you are made of sterner stuff than I…
I live in South Central Texas. I choose fabrics that are mostly linen or rayon. I buy sizes 4XL whenever possible. They shrink some in the wash, but still breathe better than regular cotton. Wide-legged pants or beach pants that are a solid color could work well in professional outfits. My business shirts are gigantic button up shirts, cotton, or linen.
The thing I love/hate about a round up like this one, Noha, is that I want to respond to EVERYthing! My apparent, adult-onset ADD is all ~willy nilly!~
Seriously, I found some really important ideas and updates here. This is the heart of it for me, too: "The micro and the macro are at odds right now. My personal life is frenetic in the good ways. Also, the world is a mess and it is messing with my mind to watch it all. I don’t know how to balance these two opposites."
I think I mentioned loving Tom Lake in some comment or other. I'm currently working through her book of essays, These Precious Days. Beautiful storytelling.
I'm still trying to figure out how to say hummus correctly.
I loved Morning Pages, because once I commit to something I'm pretty much all in. I recently found something I wrote about starting that book with a new journal, a handmade one from a dear friend that I'd kept in a drawer for YEARS because I was so afraid I'd make an entry or two and then fall out of the habit. The Artist's Way was the impetus I needed to be consistent, to do that journal justice. :)
Hahahaaaa the needing to respond to everything - DEEP relate, Elizabeth.
Still struggling with the balance of it all. I was writing in my (still stupid) morning pages this morning that I am so fragile and so... brittle? I'm in the best mood and then the smallest thing pushes me over. I think it's a response to how much is happening and the weight of it all, even as I personally am safe, healthy, cared for, etc etc.
I'm trying to remember if I read "These Precious Days" - the essay collection I distinctly remember reading of hers is "This is the story of a happy marriage." Also truly lovely. I don't know how she does it, because it's not like I'm underlying every sentence or copying them down, and yet the overall feeling I have is just being so engrossed. She really is a master.
Possibly what you're struggling with in Hummus is the H, which is not a H at all, but another letter that doesn't exist in English. I might just do a little Arabic tutorial for fun of the letters no one can say, and how they're written in English, vs. how they actually sound. This could be so fun! Let's just say, it's from deep in your throat...
I actually had just started a new notebook about a week before I started morning pages and it's so nice, waaaaaaaaaaaaay too nice for my early morning so far always angry unfiltered words. But something Julia Cameron wrote in taw about morning pages was that writers would have the worst time with them because we'd try to turn them into beautiful writing, so I'm resisting that urge to make them flowery. At 6 am, I do not feel flowery. I feel deeply frustrated that I have to be up writing instead of catching my last few minutes of sleep before the chaos of the day starts...
That said, I'm still obsessed. Everything I've read in the book so far feels so targeted to me. I feel attacked! But, like, in a good way?
Yes morning pages gets easier and I am also better at not over worrying if I miss or don't do them. I find the heat tricky too wearing a headscarf. I wear a lot of loose linen baggy clothing but the scarf on my head creates a lot of pressure I find.
Tamsin I'm so glad to hear they get easier because right now they feel like an albatross! I like how she warns you though that they WILL feel like an albatross lol. Because I hate them so much but I'm committed (for now at least) to keep going. I want the transformation!
Honestly for me it's less the actual headscarf than the other layers that I have a harder time with in the summer.
I used to find the headscarf itself heat-generating but I have switched almost exclusively to jersey hijabs and they are so breathable I am fine with them... Linen is a weird material and for some reason I find it holds heat. I keep looking for cotton clothes that are light and cool to the touch that work for the office and going out because I hate having to switch clothes on in office days. I do wish our clothes lasted longer. I buy stuff and then 3 years later when I've worn it down I'm so annoyed to discover I need to get something new. In my mind I'm like "what? I JUST bought this" - I think that's just me hating clothes shopping though.
Why are you hating the morning pages ? Can you make it a nicer experience? make a drink, light a candle....interesting about linen holding heat...I don't like shopping either totally with you there!
I'm hating them because my mornings are rushed. I have to go to work, and if I make it a production to have a cup of tea with them I will leave my room, which means the kids will find me and then I have to say "but actually I can't talk now" ... Whereas if I just write quickly in my room, I will be able to get it done and get on to the next thing. My mornings are my least luxurious time of the day. Ideally I would be able to do the morning pages at noon or later in the day after work, but Julia Cameron is very specific that they need to be done in the morning...
Karen Armstrong's "A History of God" has been mesmerizing. It's dense, but it's introduced me to Al-Ghazali (whose crisis of faith is quite touching) and the mystics. It's also been an interesting reminder of how ecumenical Islam was at its inception (and still is for many). Armstrong has a biography of Muhammad that I'm looking forward to reading next. She is a former nun who now sees research as her faith practice. And from what I can tell, she really does approach research in a mystical way, trying to inhabit the worlds and emotional circumstances that defined faith for the people she studies, trying to feel and believe as they felt and believed.
I haven't read "A History of God" but yes her biography of Muhammad is supposed to be very good and was something my parents would recommend to lots of folks when I was growing up.
Now you've tempted me to read "A History of God". She's quite the scholar.
Re your comment about Islam being ecumenical at its inception, I think this is what I was trying to articulate in many of our past conversations ... There is a certain ethos that has been neglected by the so called "leaders" in the current era of mainstream Islam, but which you'll find many practitioners are still paying close attention to and following.
I was just thinking how nice it would be to discuss Armstrong with others. Maybe we should organize a pop-up book discussion?
Yes! But also I need 3-4 months because right now I am DROWNING in some life stuff (all good but also stupidly hectic)…
I love morning pages! I’ve been doing gem since 2017. I find that they announce things to me that later occur—like my psyche knows what’s for me, and it’s just waiting for me to self-actualize enough to get there. I can look back at my journals and see a map to the life I’ve built, including concrete details like the house we live in. Back in 2017 I kept writing about living next to a baseball field. Now, we have one right outside our back gate.
Well that helps a little in keeping me motivated to do these stupid pages. I'm on day 3 and while the first two days were ok (even though I really really just wanted to sleep in) today was the hardest because I had to get up for work which meant I had to set the alarm a half hour earlier to get up for morning pages. And it was a STRUGGLE.
I had every intention of going to bed early. I even denied my poor husband a movie last night because "I have to get up earlier to do my morning pages" and then I went up to bed and read for an hour because I am my own worst enemy... Literally the first thing I wrote in my morning pages this morning (with my eyes heavy and my exhaustion beckoning me back to bed) was "I hate these stupid morning pages. I'm so tired."
I can hear the censor etc in every word right now, and I'm hoping that fades and I get to the spot that is my psyche knowing what's for me, but right now it just feels a lot like a whiny 9th grader's journal and I haven't journaled for a long time...
I have questions: do you do them first thing in the morning? Like, before you see anyone or talk to anyone? Or if that doesn't quite work out and you end up doing something else for an hour and then getting to them, is that ok too?
I try to do them first thing but it can be challenging, so I get to them as soon as I can. Mine have dwindled to a single page now, which makes it a bit easier. I usually take about 7 minutes :) just enough to open the tap!
OK that is a bit of a relief. I think I need to aim for 3 pages for now since I'm still so early and so blocked but down to one eventually sounds heavenly...
Right now I feel like there's so little in the tank that by the time I write the three pages I a) want to go back to bed and b) will have no more to write.
But I'm aware of what Julia Cameron says, about writers actually having the hardest time with morning pages because they try to make them into something pretty instead of just making them an exercise... Mine are very not pretty right now. But I think even recognizing the pressure I have that every single time I sit down and write I want something beautiful to leak from me is a valuable observation. UGH. I still hate this lol.
I agree with all of this, especially your commitment to doing it as advertised for the 12 weeks! It works for a reason :) you gotta dump years worth of stuff and then the clarity emerges.
Gaaaaaaah why why why!! (this is resistance, as Julia Cameron says. Stupid genius woman anticipating my anger and telling me it will happen).
hehehe we're all such a type. human.
I, too, feel like a yo-yo. and bless you on the morning pages- pls WhatsApp me and force me to join you
I will Whatsapp you immediately but my sweet summer child are you really gonna attempt morning pages with a newborn? If so, you are made of sterner stuff than I…
I live in South Central Texas. I choose fabrics that are mostly linen or rayon. I buy sizes 4XL whenever possible. They shrink some in the wash, but still breathe better than regular cotton. Wide-legged pants or beach pants that are a solid color could work well in professional outfits. My business shirts are gigantic button up shirts, cotton, or linen.
The thing I love/hate about a round up like this one, Noha, is that I want to respond to EVERYthing! My apparent, adult-onset ADD is all ~willy nilly!~
Seriously, I found some really important ideas and updates here. This is the heart of it for me, too: "The micro and the macro are at odds right now. My personal life is frenetic in the good ways. Also, the world is a mess and it is messing with my mind to watch it all. I don’t know how to balance these two opposites."
I think I mentioned loving Tom Lake in some comment or other. I'm currently working through her book of essays, These Precious Days. Beautiful storytelling.
I'm still trying to figure out how to say hummus correctly.
I loved Morning Pages, because once I commit to something I'm pretty much all in. I recently found something I wrote about starting that book with a new journal, a handmade one from a dear friend that I'd kept in a drawer for YEARS because I was so afraid I'd make an entry or two and then fall out of the habit. The Artist's Way was the impetus I needed to be consistent, to do that journal justice. :)
Hahahaaaa the needing to respond to everything - DEEP relate, Elizabeth.
Still struggling with the balance of it all. I was writing in my (still stupid) morning pages this morning that I am so fragile and so... brittle? I'm in the best mood and then the smallest thing pushes me over. I think it's a response to how much is happening and the weight of it all, even as I personally am safe, healthy, cared for, etc etc.
I'm trying to remember if I read "These Precious Days" - the essay collection I distinctly remember reading of hers is "This is the story of a happy marriage." Also truly lovely. I don't know how she does it, because it's not like I'm underlying every sentence or copying them down, and yet the overall feeling I have is just being so engrossed. She really is a master.
Possibly what you're struggling with in Hummus is the H, which is not a H at all, but another letter that doesn't exist in English. I might just do a little Arabic tutorial for fun of the letters no one can say, and how they're written in English, vs. how they actually sound. This could be so fun! Let's just say, it's from deep in your throat...
I actually had just started a new notebook about a week before I started morning pages and it's so nice, waaaaaaaaaaaaay too nice for my early morning so far always angry unfiltered words. But something Julia Cameron wrote in taw about morning pages was that writers would have the worst time with them because we'd try to turn them into beautiful writing, so I'm resisting that urge to make them flowery. At 6 am, I do not feel flowery. I feel deeply frustrated that I have to be up writing instead of catching my last few minutes of sleep before the chaos of the day starts...
That said, I'm still obsessed. Everything I've read in the book so far feels so targeted to me. I feel attacked! But, like, in a good way?
Attacked but in a good way -- that's a mind bender. :) Thanks for the lovely response, Noha.
😅😅 it’s like get out of my head, Julia Cameron
Which door did we leave open? Did she sneak in through a cracked in the wall? Gah!
Yes morning pages gets easier and I am also better at not over worrying if I miss or don't do them. I find the heat tricky too wearing a headscarf. I wear a lot of loose linen baggy clothing but the scarf on my head creates a lot of pressure I find.
Tamsin I'm so glad to hear they get easier because right now they feel like an albatross! I like how she warns you though that they WILL feel like an albatross lol. Because I hate them so much but I'm committed (for now at least) to keep going. I want the transformation!
Honestly for me it's less the actual headscarf than the other layers that I have a harder time with in the summer.
I used to find the headscarf itself heat-generating but I have switched almost exclusively to jersey hijabs and they are so breathable I am fine with them... Linen is a weird material and for some reason I find it holds heat. I keep looking for cotton clothes that are light and cool to the touch that work for the office and going out because I hate having to switch clothes on in office days. I do wish our clothes lasted longer. I buy stuff and then 3 years later when I've worn it down I'm so annoyed to discover I need to get something new. In my mind I'm like "what? I JUST bought this" - I think that's just me hating clothes shopping though.
Why are you hating the morning pages ? Can you make it a nicer experience? make a drink, light a candle....interesting about linen holding heat...I don't like shopping either totally with you there!
I'm hating them because my mornings are rushed. I have to go to work, and if I make it a production to have a cup of tea with them I will leave my room, which means the kids will find me and then I have to say "but actually I can't talk now" ... Whereas if I just write quickly in my room, I will be able to get it done and get on to the next thing. My mornings are my least luxurious time of the day. Ideally I would be able to do the morning pages at noon or later in the day after work, but Julia Cameron is very specific that they need to be done in the morning...