The games run into one another. It’s all about noticing. I’m always listening, but I haven’t been able to hone in on a kledon at all. I’ll hear a snatch of conversation and then forget it before I have a chance to record it.
Most interesting for me this week was the frisson I got when Moss was remembering how he found his publisher. He was asked to review “The Mist-Filled Path.” When I became fascinated with shamanism, that was the first book I found. Like most of Moss’s work, it was so dense that I wasn’t able to navigate all the way through. It’s back home, not with me in assisted living, and I can’t wait to reacquaint myself with it. Maybe that is the shelf elf experience.
That's a great "shelf elf" moment for you, Fran. Make a note so you don't forget you want to look at it again later. Agree about the sensation that kledons can be hard to remember. I've really been stopping right then and there and jotting things down. Otherwise, it's similar to dreams..... they just drift away for me. I agree that noticing is key. The games just offer many entrances for people, ways to think about it that offer some concrete structure.
I have to admit, Amy, the first thing I did upon opening the post was mentally search your picture and pulled the book "George". If I were standing in front of that group, it's the first one to catch my eye. Followed, of course, by "A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching" I wouldn't be able to not take a closer look at the pigeon peaking from the front cover. I do find it exciting that you ended up in front of the bird books and even a crow book (!) without knowing it was there.
This group of games brought mixed results for me. I do agree that listening for kledons that pull me out of my own head is something that I do all the time. This is especially true of song lyrics. There are days that a line will just pop it's way out of a song and strike my fancy. I usually just put them into my Illustrated Journal, but I may need to create a page in my 'secret journal' to put them all into one place. Then I will be better able to ponder over them together with my collected symbols. The practice of asking for help from the Hermes statue in the ancient marketplace and then covering your ears to create silence before releasing to the first sound was very intriguing to me. I can see myself trying this once or twice (haven't yet, I'm still thinking of the best place to do this).
I also gave the bibliomancy game a try and found no connections or anything useful either. As Amy has noted, maybe I didn't pick the right books or wasn't open to the idea of this, but I do feel that a trip to the library may need to be made sooner rather than later and maybe I will try again.
One thing that I have noticed during our reading is that I don't seem to dream as much as I used to, or at least I do not remember them. I was a prolific dreamer, with many nights of multiple dreams and I've had two in the entire month that we've been reading. Thinking back over the past year or so and I can not remember having many at all. I'm not sure if this is age related or behavior related, but it has given me a bit of pause as to why.
I enjoyed reading your notes, Rebecca. I'm always intrigued by what stands out to people.
I have often noticed overheard conversation bits in your illustrated journal pages. They always capture something in ways that are perfect for the journal - and really interesting on the page. So, yes, you are a Kledon gatherer, I think. I like the connection to song lyrics, too. That's a really nice extension.... If you started tracking them, it would be interesting to see if larger patterns form or how often something recurs that really catches your attention again in the same way.
Dreams.... interesting to notice this own shift for you.... maybe your overall sleeping is different? Keep watching for them!
About my library photo.... just in case I wasn't clear. I turned, without looking, and reached out and touched a book. That's the only reason it was the pigeon book. Hah! If I had scanned to simply find one of interest, it would have been different. And I did pull George off the shelf afterwards to see what that was, too. (It's the magpie one.) Lots of books right there that look interesting! I didn't even realize at the time how significant I found the whole experience. But as it has simmered.... it's really stuck with me that it happened the way it did.
I didn't realize that I was doing the same thing--scanning the picture and finding *the book*--until you mentioned it, Rebecca. For me it was the hummingbirds that caught my eye. I have a feeder just outside the window at my desk. For years, a female hummingbird has used the feeder. In the mornings when it's just getting light she often just sits at the feeder and hangs out. She's been missing for about a week, and the last time I saw her, she looked a little more ragged than usual. So, it was with a heavy heart that my eye found the hummingbirds.
I shared this on my substack, but want to share it here too. I have been tracking hands after a dream I had a few weeks ago:
This morning I looked down at the pile of books next to my desk and saw The Book of Symbols, a reference book I use in my writing. (There is a striking picture of a hand on the cover). I looked up the entry on HANDS and it mentioned the story, “The Handless Maiden.” Themes of agency, inheritance, fathers and daughters—this is what Wolf Hall is made of! This feels like a rich vein that I have only just begun to unpack.
Obviously, this is not a book picked at random. It's called The Book of Symbols!! And I specifically read the section on hands, but spending time with the story of the Handless Maiden has been very fruitful.
Amy, you mentioned the Elf Shelf game, but I didn't know what you were talking about. I had to return Sidewalk Oracles to the library and so haven't read these sections. I was planning on reading your reflections while I wait for my turn with the book again.
Ack! Sorry! I hadn’t meant to be mysterious. You had just commented on the previous week, so I didn’t realize. You can tell probably from the summary here what it was about. When I first read your post, it seemed that looking down and noticing the hands on that book on symbols was a striking shelf elf moment -- in that you were thinking of all these hands and looked down and there that book was .... with something both on the cover and inside that was related. I love how things coalesced for you.... and that you were noticing.
After working in libraries for years, yes I love the magic of the shelf elves. I love to see the mis shelved book, the sticky note, the margin notes. For someone that likes to learn and see big connections it can feel like heaven. I tried picking a “significant” book off my shelf to read a passage and it fell flat. Something about the character having a flu in Germany and not performing opera up to the level of expectation of her current beau? I tried again with a library copy of “the lyrics” by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon and it was much more satisfying. The whole thing is broken down to interesting stories about songwriting, the Beatles and Paul’s life- paired with a song lyric. Lots of interesting takes on creativity, and the chance kledons and characters that influenced so many of those classic songs. So my bibliomancy, the first one I jumped into with intention per Moss, was McCartney describing creatively putting on a “cloak and mask” - playing a character to write a song until it starts becoming his own. I loved that idea, what a way to get past “blank page” syndrome.
I didn’t realize you work/ed in a library! Interesting examples .... funny about the one that fell flat. I’m glad you tried again and found something interesting. And did it feel like it held a message for now?
Still reading though I have to admit that I noticed myself skipping over parts of the text to get to the core of it. I enjoyed doing the games involving books. I will definitely do them again as I like to ponder about random text and what wisdom I can get out of it. I will also do what you did Amy in the library. I think that was great and fun.
I don’t go out a lot these days but I try to be more aware at home and taking deliberate short breaks from work to look out of the window and notice something.
I am glad you are still reading! And glad that you are finding some of these games intriguing. I do think being mostly at home makes this feel harder. Like you, I try to look up and out more....
The games run into one another. It’s all about noticing. I’m always listening, but I haven’t been able to hone in on a kledon at all. I’ll hear a snatch of conversation and then forget it before I have a chance to record it.
Most interesting for me this week was the frisson I got when Moss was remembering how he found his publisher. He was asked to review “The Mist-Filled Path.” When I became fascinated with shamanism, that was the first book I found. Like most of Moss’s work, it was so dense that I wasn’t able to navigate all the way through. It’s back home, not with me in assisted living, and I can’t wait to reacquaint myself with it. Maybe that is the shelf elf experience.
And probably all of us keep journals. . . .
That's a great "shelf elf" moment for you, Fran. Make a note so you don't forget you want to look at it again later. Agree about the sensation that kledons can be hard to remember. I've really been stopping right then and there and jotting things down. Otherwise, it's similar to dreams..... they just drift away for me. I agree that noticing is key. The games just offer many entrances for people, ways to think about it that offer some concrete structure.
I have to admit, Amy, the first thing I did upon opening the post was mentally search your picture and pulled the book "George". If I were standing in front of that group, it's the first one to catch my eye. Followed, of course, by "A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching" I wouldn't be able to not take a closer look at the pigeon peaking from the front cover. I do find it exciting that you ended up in front of the bird books and even a crow book (!) without knowing it was there.
This group of games brought mixed results for me. I do agree that listening for kledons that pull me out of my own head is something that I do all the time. This is especially true of song lyrics. There are days that a line will just pop it's way out of a song and strike my fancy. I usually just put them into my Illustrated Journal, but I may need to create a page in my 'secret journal' to put them all into one place. Then I will be better able to ponder over them together with my collected symbols. The practice of asking for help from the Hermes statue in the ancient marketplace and then covering your ears to create silence before releasing to the first sound was very intriguing to me. I can see myself trying this once or twice (haven't yet, I'm still thinking of the best place to do this).
I also gave the bibliomancy game a try and found no connections or anything useful either. As Amy has noted, maybe I didn't pick the right books or wasn't open to the idea of this, but I do feel that a trip to the library may need to be made sooner rather than later and maybe I will try again.
One thing that I have noticed during our reading is that I don't seem to dream as much as I used to, or at least I do not remember them. I was a prolific dreamer, with many nights of multiple dreams and I've had two in the entire month that we've been reading. Thinking back over the past year or so and I can not remember having many at all. I'm not sure if this is age related or behavior related, but it has given me a bit of pause as to why.
Enjoy your weekend!
I enjoyed reading your notes, Rebecca. I'm always intrigued by what stands out to people.
I have often noticed overheard conversation bits in your illustrated journal pages. They always capture something in ways that are perfect for the journal - and really interesting on the page. So, yes, you are a Kledon gatherer, I think. I like the connection to song lyrics, too. That's a really nice extension.... If you started tracking them, it would be interesting to see if larger patterns form or how often something recurs that really catches your attention again in the same way.
Dreams.... interesting to notice this own shift for you.... maybe your overall sleeping is different? Keep watching for them!
About my library photo.... just in case I wasn't clear. I turned, without looking, and reached out and touched a book. That's the only reason it was the pigeon book. Hah! If I had scanned to simply find one of interest, it would have been different. And I did pull George off the shelf afterwards to see what that was, too. (It's the magpie one.) Lots of books right there that look interesting! I didn't even realize at the time how significant I found the whole experience. But as it has simmered.... it's really stuck with me that it happened the way it did.
I didn't realize that I was doing the same thing--scanning the picture and finding *the book*--until you mentioned it, Rebecca. For me it was the hummingbirds that caught my eye. I have a feeder just outside the window at my desk. For years, a female hummingbird has used the feeder. In the mornings when it's just getting light she often just sits at the feeder and hangs out. She's been missing for about a week, and the last time I saw her, she looked a little more ragged than usual. So, it was with a heavy heart that my eye found the hummingbirds.
I shared this on my substack, but want to share it here too. I have been tracking hands after a dream I had a few weeks ago:
This morning I looked down at the pile of books next to my desk and saw The Book of Symbols, a reference book I use in my writing. (There is a striking picture of a hand on the cover). I looked up the entry on HANDS and it mentioned the story, “The Handless Maiden.” Themes of agency, inheritance, fathers and daughters—this is what Wolf Hall is made of! This feels like a rich vein that I have only just begun to unpack.
Obviously, this is not a book picked at random. It's called The Book of Symbols!! And I specifically read the section on hands, but spending time with the story of the Handless Maiden has been very fruitful.
Amy, you mentioned the Elf Shelf game, but I didn't know what you were talking about. I had to return Sidewalk Oracles to the library and so haven't read these sections. I was planning on reading your reflections while I wait for my turn with the book again.
Ack! Sorry! I hadn’t meant to be mysterious. You had just commented on the previous week, so I didn’t realize. You can tell probably from the summary here what it was about. When I first read your post, it seemed that looking down and noticing the hands on that book on symbols was a striking shelf elf moment -- in that you were thinking of all these hands and looked down and there that book was .... with something both on the cover and inside that was related. I love how things coalesced for you.... and that you were noticing.
No worries at all! It's kind of telling that I was enacting the practice without even reading the prompt.
After working in libraries for years, yes I love the magic of the shelf elves. I love to see the mis shelved book, the sticky note, the margin notes. For someone that likes to learn and see big connections it can feel like heaven. I tried picking a “significant” book off my shelf to read a passage and it fell flat. Something about the character having a flu in Germany and not performing opera up to the level of expectation of her current beau? I tried again with a library copy of “the lyrics” by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon and it was much more satisfying. The whole thing is broken down to interesting stories about songwriting, the Beatles and Paul’s life- paired with a song lyric. Lots of interesting takes on creativity, and the chance kledons and characters that influenced so many of those classic songs. So my bibliomancy, the first one I jumped into with intention per Moss, was McCartney describing creatively putting on a “cloak and mask” - playing a character to write a song until it starts becoming his own. I loved that idea, what a way to get past “blank page” syndrome.
I didn’t realize you work/ed in a library! Interesting examples .... funny about the one that fell flat. I’m glad you tried again and found something interesting. And did it feel like it held a message for now?
Still reading though I have to admit that I noticed myself skipping over parts of the text to get to the core of it. I enjoyed doing the games involving books. I will definitely do them again as I like to ponder about random text and what wisdom I can get out of it. I will also do what you did Amy in the library. I think that was great and fun.
I don’t go out a lot these days but I try to be more aware at home and taking deliberate short breaks from work to look out of the window and notice something.
I am glad you are still reading! And glad that you are finding some of these games intriguing. I do think being mostly at home makes this feel harder. Like you, I try to look up and out more....