Write the Book You Want to Read

Microseason No. 25 June 5-9

People say you should write the book you want to read.

The book I want to read is so weird.

This is how I feel when walking in the forest with my dog.

I want to read a big old scrapbook found in the dusty attic of an eccentric and passionate naturalist.

It contains a collection of essays, notes, sketches, poems, prayers, paintings and actual preserved nature specimens.

The contents of this book are loosely organized by the microseasons—small 5-day increments of time around a calendar year. Pages are filled with materials inspired and gathered by years and years of walking along local forest trails.

It's a book about the practice of looking for something to love and to be curious about on any ordinary day.

So I guess I’m that eccentric nature nerd author of this book I want to read. And this Curiosity Cabinet of a project is what I'm slowly working on now.

A newly hatched Praying Mantis! That’s my wedding ring for scale.

It’s good to have big goals, but I think it’s equally good to have some tiny goals. How satisfying it is to do things that are rather easily achieved, yet still accrete over time— things that are a pleasure to return to over and over again.

This year I’ve been taking walks along familiar trails, pressing plant specimens, making photos, writing, and creating a lot of relaxed art in my strange and groovy Attic Book.

I had never seen a dark red Jack-in-the-pulpit until today!

The process of making this very personal artifact is infused with joy.

And it helps to steady me in these strange times we live in.

I hope it might inspire you to unfold in your own creative ways, as well.

I dwell in the dew and in the air and in all greenness.

Tell us your name again

lest we forget.

— Hildegard of Bingen