Hypnopompia and the Spruce Trees: The Little Letter Series: Delights of the Ordinary No. 60 (S2)
Not a good thing, if you are planning to do life adequately in this world.
#TheLittleLetters is my new series where I send you tiny letters of little learnings as opposed to long-form essays. They may help you gear back or throttle up but I promise most of them will be positively wise.
But after I finish and some time has passed, I forget all the pain and misery and am already planning how I can run an even better time in the next race. The funny thing is, no matter how much experience I have under my belt, no matter how old I get, it’s all just a repeat of what came before.
Haruki Murakami in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Hey, you wonderful reader!
I gently hope that you are marvellously caught up in setting up your stunning home, scrubbing your windowsill, making multitudes of checklists, and elating deep down about the many festivals we are about to witness from now on. It doesn’t matter which side of the world you are in and which direction the earth is revolving. Because almost the entire world has some festival to celebrate from now on.
So, enjoy every bash!
Not everyone is caught up in cleaning the windowsill and mopping their floors for good tidings. There are countries, devastated by war and intensely long from the pits of their stomach to do what you are doing.
So, enjoy every party!
I reckon that in our ordinary life, it is the most ordinary stuff that is only to be felt deeply.
And when I sat down to write to you on this slightly breezy morning, I wished to write some chirpy celebratory little letter to achieve some calm balance between ordinary and festivals… but honestly, I couldn’t come up with anything better than what I am writing to you now.
I take this unsaid responsibility to tell you not to stop finding charm in our ordinary days. Since festivals are brief but ordinary stuff are staying. And it isn’t any secret that ordinary things are usually mundane, tedious humdrum of life.
Thus, after all the celebrations pause, when we re-hit the abyss of our unexcited ordinary days, we remodel our ordinary days- like witnessing the cool charming mornings, somewhere birds chirping, cool amber dawn intense-ing - transitioning from waking up with half-opened eyes, then going back to sleep and dreaming again.
Well, you call this transitional state - ‘Hypnopompia,’ which happens right before we wake up. It is a state of consciousness leading out of sleep. Fredric William Mayers coined this term. He was an English poet and also a psychical researcher.
In my life, I detect a different sort of ‘hyp-no-pompia’ every morning. Somedays, it is a sloth-resembling effort, other days a snail-resembling one, while some other days a chirping happy sunrise sort!
As much as I hope for big festivities in my vanity (and even in yours), it also needs some turmoil and harder ground. It is said that life makes less meaning if all is nothing but a flourishing space. If there are no pains and no hard discoveries we are bound to become stout and plump.
Not a good thing, if you are planning to do life adequately in this world.
I happen to read author Peter Wohlleben’s piece from the book The Hidden Life of Trees,
“It’s no surprise that spruce growing in areas with abundant moisture are [affected so adversely by dry conditions]: they are spoiled. Barely half a mile away, on a dry, stony, south-facing slope, things look very different. At first, I had expected damage to the spruce trees here because of severe summer drought. What I observed was just the opposite. The tough trees that grow on this slope are well versed in the practices of denial and can withstand far worse conditions than their colleagues who are spoiled for water. Even though there is much less water available here year round — because the soil retains less water and the sun burns much hotter - the spruce growing here are thriving. They grow considerably more slowly, clearly make better use of what little water there is, and survive even extreme years fairly well.”
And the discernment is to know that the world treats everyone equally, the spruce trees, you, me and all of us. It comes down to the summer droughts that are behind our agility and thriving. And in some cases, if we are vigilant enough, then it even refines our character.
That is why ‘hyp-no-pompia’ is a wonder every morning. The summer drought or snowy winters, no days are equal and so are no mornings.
Every morning waking up is a new experience. In the words of Murakami, “But the place you return to is always slightly different from the place you left. That’s the rule. It can never be exactly the same.”
That is why returning to your bed and waking up is never the same. No two festivals are same, spruce tree of the jungle will never be the same. And neither will you be. The only catch is we learn to cherish the summer droughts, despite how painful they may be, then can we cherish the festivals.
Thus, I hope that with ‘hypno-pompia’ occurring each morning, you will see lot of happy days stacked ahead. More merriment with family. But whenever your days are gloom-laden you will surely see through it. It may not be a promise but I sense that it will shape itself to find a way out from the exotic turmoils of life.
And it is a good thing.
To round off my words read this lovely poem published by Family Friends Poem.
Only If.... by © Abimbola T. Alabi
I'd be happy, only if...
Our often deceptive belief -
If I were a superstar,
Or rode a brand new car;
If I had a better house,
Or a more understanding spouse;
If I flew a private jet,
Or could get my dream pet;
If I had a lovelier face,
Or lived in a riveting place;
If I had a better friend,
Or could get more to spend...
Young or old or rich or poor,
Who doesn't want one thing more?
Joy thrives in no place apart,
From the kind and grateful heart.
Yet, I wish you you kindle a softer hear, and witness ample light than darkness.
See you soon.
- Anugrah
Delights of the Ordinary is for us who are trapped in the world of hustle culture but are quiet at heart with an itching creative bone. This newsletter intersects culture, art, science, and philosophy with our practical 9-5 job space.
Who am I?
Hi, I am Anugrah. You can know more about me here. I write Delights of the Ordinary which currently is a free publication. Yet it takes me many hours of effort to write and curate it. I may need lots of coffee to keep me going. You can :)
Stumbled on my publication? Explore all my previous editions here. And in case you don’t wish to spend time browsing then complement this post with The Antidote for Self-Doubt, We Imagine Because We Are Living or read about Decision Fatigue and Our Creative Life.
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