#199: For daydreamers and cloud gazers
Dearest reader,
How wonderful it is to watch ideas manifest and become real in front of your very eyes. My life has been on an intentional autopilot for a few months now and I have Notion and therapy to thank for that. I put things down to be done for the day and in something between a dream state and one of heightened awareness, things get done. It’s like I was hyper-awake through the day yet it still feels like a dream.
One of the coolest things I’ve done in this state was starting a new newsletter about flowers called The Floral Dispatch. I’m amazed at how seamless the daydreaming and execution process was, at how a seed of the idea blossomed into an actual newsletter without too much steering.
The feeling reminds me of Rainer Maria Rilke’s journal entry, where he wrote:
“And today, once again, a new morning: bright, with close, rounded clouds that frame expanses of the immeasurably deep sky. Agitation in the treetops. In everything else, restfulness. Windfall of apples. The grass softly invites you to walk out of the house. The dimness inside is alive with lights on antique silver, and their reflections in the looking glass confuse the eye as to what is enclosed within the mirror’s frame. There are so many days here, none like the other. And beneath all their differences is this great similarity: the gratitude in which they are received.”
-from Rilke's Early Journals
The closest I come to this constant feeling of gratitude and conscious daydreaming is through cloud doodles. They open up a whole new way of seeing.
Poetry Corner
By inference, this newsletter must contain poetry on clouds and daydreams:
1. Day Dream by A.S. J. Tessimond
One day people will touch and talk perhaps easily,
And loving be natural as breathing and warm as sunlight,
And people will untie themselves, as string is unknotted,
Unfold and yawn and stretch and spread their fingers,
Unfurl, uncurl like seaweed returned to the sea,
And work will be simple and swift as a seagull flying,
And play will be casual and quiet as a seagull settling,
And the clocks will stop, and no one will wonder or care or notice,
And people will smile without reason, even in winter, even in the rain.
2. Looking at Cloud Banks Below the Plane Window by Robert Bly
Hills of cloud, mountains of mist below.
What are they? Troll-heads,
Tufts of forgetfulness,
Childhood stories, dreams of someone’s death.
Perhaps a burbling up of blind affection…
The clouds are affectionate creatures
With their backs turned to us,
Crouched over a smiling landscape beneath.
How different these tuffy bodies are from ours!
They are secretive, but do not cling,
Are not afraid of a storm,
Willing to dissipate in the wind…
3. Sea-Fever by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Music for August
This Spotify playlist is comprised of 715 songs, handpicked by neuroscientists, and meant to elicit “frisson”, which means a sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion or thrill in French (via Recomendo)
Links I loved
This Bangalore map from 1992 (I was one. Jeez!)
Show and Tell, a newsletter on images and how they shape culture
Quarter: a collection of questions and ideas explored with a mindful approach to growth. + Download: Free Seasonal Reflection Notion template
The Alipore Post x DAG Museums: March to Freedom
March to Freedom is a new exhibition by DAG Museums at the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
Curated by Mrinalini Venkateswaran, the exhibition interrogates some of the most popular myths and narratives about our history of independence, drawing on rare artworks, objects and photographs from the DAG collection. Each of its eight themes represents one arena of the movement—the lesser known wars before the 1857 revolt, the culture of maritime trade, popular film and travel posters and colonial monuments, among others.
As someone who has been visiting Indian Museum since I was a child, it’s so nice to know that the museum is now holding space for such unique exhibitions. A must-visit for those in Kolkata. The Alipore Post collaborated with DAG Museums to highlight some of our favorite works from the exhibition.
A parting thought
“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
-Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Take care of your mind and soul.
Stay soft,
Rohini
Congratulations on The Floral Dispatch, Rohini. Beautiful newsletter, as always.