Elul Day 10 - י באלול
Dear Elul Writers,
The Norwegian novelist, Karl Ove Knausgaard, published a series of shorter autobiographical books based on the four seasons of the year. Though I doubt he was influenced by the rhythms of the Jewish year, his first book in the quartet is Autumn. The book is a series of short reflections on topics as diverse as wasps, chewing gum, the sun, and bottles. It is hard to characterize these pieces; they are informative, but not encyclopedic, poetic and personally revealing. Broken into three sections, September, October and November, the vignettes feel like the diary entries spanning a season in the year of an artist’s life.
In one piece, entitled, Plastic Bags, Knausgaard describes the experience of going to plant currant bushes in the front yard and encountering plastic shopping bags buried in the earth. He reflects, “I felt a stab of sorrow at the sight of the plastic bags without quite understanding why. It may have been the thought of pollution, it may have been the thought of death, but it may also have been the thought that I wouldn’t be able to plant the redcurrants there after all. Presumably it was all of these at once. As I pushed the shovel down with my foot into the soil a bit further away and began digging a hole there, I reflected on why nearly all my thoughts and reflections ran in that direction, ending in problems and worries and darkness instead of in joy, ease and light.”
What begins with something as mundane as a plastic bag, ends with this deep questioning of the author’s own tendency towards worry and negativity. For the reader, it feels like a gift to be given access to the inner workings of someone else’s brain. Moreover, it is a reminder that any little thing around us can be the source of intense reflection and meaning-making.
DAY 10 PROMPT
The mystics teach that we each have within us an inner-point-of-light. I am not sure whether or not we each have within us an inner-Norwegian-memoiristic-novelist, but today we will find out. I invite you to reflect on a mundane object, an element of the natural world, something sitting on your counter or your nightstand. Begin by considering that Lego or peace lily or cube of tofu and then, with curiosity, see where your mind takes you. It can be hard to answer questions like, “Who do I want to be next year?” I hope that by reflecting on a raisin or a q-tip or a tea kettle, we might find a different pathway towards self-reflection. It’s worth a try.
Reminder, I don’t send a prompt on Shabbos, so I’ll see y’all on Saturday night.
Shabbat shalom,
Jordan