Finding the Right Tone and Back on the Wagon

Hi Folks,

This is the first week with the new (old) writing schedule and things are feeling good.

I am glad to be back because there is something quite comforting about ending the week with reflection. And I always feel like I am writing a letter to a friend. It gives me a lot of joy and allows me to connect with people to do so.

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What I've Been Thinking

To achieve anything of significance, you must suspend the desire to know the outcome ahead of time. For the curiosity to know whether something will "work" or "succeed" ahead of time, can be the very thing that prevents the accomplishment at all.

This mindset arises when we face what we perceive to be dangerous events, events in which the egoic mind feels threatened. If we therefore place too much emphasis on the end result, we can trigger curiosity and thus sabotage any chance of success.

We overcome this by suspending our desire to know the result and instead focusing on the process itself. By focusing on the process and not the result, we can have little wins along the way. And it is these little wins that maintain momentum.

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What I've Been Reading

This week I went on a bit of a book-buying spree. I considered it a Christmas present to myself.

And this was just one delivery. I have another stack of books on the way. These are books I will read for a new project over the coming year.

Can you guess what the project might be about?

This next I read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.

Written in 1946, the book chronicles his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II and describes his psychotherapeutic method for overcoming suffering by identifying a purpose to each person's life.

It's a small book. Easy to read, and the end section introduces his theory called, Logotherapy.

Logotherapy suggests that we are, at our most basic level, driven by a desire to find meaning in life. Frankl calls this, "will to meaning."

Frankl maintained that life can hold meaning even in the harshest conditions and that our drive to continue living stems from uncovering that meaning. When this is lost, all is lost, even the will to live.

There is a lot of common sense here. But, for me, it highlights my own theory that "theories" philosophical or otherwise, are often human constructs filtered through personal experience and not a clear description of reality.

This does not render any theory wrong but rather simply one slice of the truth as a whole. And his slice of truth says a lot about our current culture.

Much of today's ills are manifestations of a loss of hope. Every type of addiction, for instance, is someone trying to hide from a sense of meaninglessness.

Frankl does seem to think that idleness is the cause of boredom and that this can lead to feeling lost in life. And this lostness then manifests as a lack of meaning. The logic seems to be that if you have a meaning in your life you will do stuff.

I'm not on board with that. For this rules out a contemplative life and there are far too many examples of sages through the years to disapprove this idea. And anyone that has experienced deep meditation will tell out there is a real sense of meaningfulness found in that stillness.

I believe this points to a fundamental truth Frankl is moving towards. And that is, the closer we get to an ultimate truth, however you would like to culturally articulate this ultimate truth, the more meaningful life becomes.

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What I've Been Doing

This week, I've made good progress on my book on Deep Meditation.

Not a lot mind you but enough that I can say I am back in the swing of things. Although, I am reminded of the Philip Roth quote:

The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.

So to combat a repeat of this year—I've told myself, a little every day is better than nothing at all.

In fact, it is preferable. For a little a day creates momentum and it is this that will get the project over the line.

I've had the outline for some time. And I know what it is I am going to say—more or less. But how to say it, that was blocking me. Then one day in meditation the "how" came to me in a flash.

So the progress I have made this week is due to cracking the tone. And now I have that, and as long as I continue the momentum I have, I have everything I need to complete it.

And I don't think I am alone in facing the difficulties of moving from articles and essays to full-blown books. Apparently, it’s a known phenomenon called, big project syndrome.

So finding the tone of the project was critical. Now that I have this I am confident I will be able to continue to make progress.

Thank you for your patience.

And of course, I will be sharing part of the book as I go.

Merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year.

See you next week.

Clarke Scott

p.s.

I also posted another journal entry for those following along. You can read it here - https://clarkescott.substack.com/p/the-shifting-sands-of-particularity