“Found” journaling is finding a word, like placing your finger on a word in a magazine, and writing about it. I write for 10-15 minutes about whatever comes to mind from that word, continuously writing even if it wanders, and post immediately. It’s not about grammar or syntax. It’s about writing and practicing writing.

Light

Funny how this word came up for me today. I was watching Edward Norton on Inside the Actor’s Studio the other day and he said his favorite word is “light.” He said that it’s all-encompassing. It’s energy, tangible and yet not. It surrounds us and is us.

I’ve always thought that I would like to be known for who I am rather than what I am. I think that we humans put far too much emphasis on our physical beings. Having chatted and written in cyberspace for so long, I actually started to feel like I was becoming known for who I am. I like to think of me as energy…light…that goes out to others and seeps in to their consciousness. That I’m in their lives but not obtrusively. I would like to think that I add positiveness to others.

When I think in those terms, I see rays of light (like in Contact or other science fiction genre movies) where we are reaching out to one another through energy.

It’s funny that I think in those terms, I think. I tend to be a creature of darkness. People often walk by my office and comment on the lack of lighting. I’m more comfortable in my “cave” sans lighting. I like working in the dark (well, physical darkness, not literal darkness). During the holidays, you’ll see colorful lights blinking around my whiteboard but otherwise, it’s fairly dark in here. It’s amazing that I have so many plants living given the utter darkness. I think the skylight helps with that, though.

I also saw something on feng shui the other day that said an office with a skylight (and this entire complex has them) is not good because positive thoughts and good energies flow out through the skylight. I wonder if that means I’m doomed. For me, it’s the only natural lighting I get most days. I come in when it’s dark and I often leave when it’s dark.

I’m like a mole…I only come out in the dark. And that’s strange, too, because I absolutely LOVE the sun.

Ahhhh…the sun. It’s turning into a love/hate relationship. I’m in love with the sun. I love the way it feels on my skin. I love the way the air smells on a sunny day, the ways it makes things glow. And now I’m told that I really need to stay out of the sun as much as possible. I live in Arizona, for crying outloud. Granted, I live in the pine-forested mountains but the sun still shines over 350 days of the year here. How in the heck am I supposed to stay out of it? Everything I love to do is in the sun: boating, hiking, biking, hanging out on the lake, gardening. Ok…not everything…I can still read, write, and play on my computer inside. But there is something about sitting in the light of the sun and writing about what I see.

Light…it can be a powerful thing.