My Sunday List
February 16, 2025
Words
Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself. Other creatures may love and laugh, talk and think, but it seems to be the special peculiarity of human beings that they reflect; they think about thinking and know that they know.” —Alan Watts, The Book
Music
Everything instrumental, a lot of 1920s Dixieland, 1950s jazz, Jimmie Rodgers, Emmett Miller’s “Lovesick Blues,” Hank Williams’s too as well as a Spotify playlist called the Dirty 1920s & 30s—the soundtrack for the book in my mind is swirling around and helping me get everything about these characters onto the page. Yes, they are spirited folks, willful southerners who’d rather own one acre of their own than rent one-hundred of someone else’s. Their tastes in music go right along with that ethos—some people require a more potent experience than others.
Some of it’s coming out longhand and some isn’t. Suffice to say, the process has begun and I’m having fun with it. Every world has a soundtrack and it’s fun to figure out what’s on this one.
What I’ve Been Writing About
I generally write at work every day. I’m lucky to be able to put a little of myself into that work, but there’s a line between what I think about in that chair and the one in which I sit right now.
Lately, I’ve been writing down a lot of thoughts about forgiveness. I know now how complicated it can be and how hard to reach it is in some circumstances. And the truth of it is, at least for me, it ebbs and flows according to the timing and context that each day allows. There are days on which letting go feels like death. But those come with larger and longer spaces in between—resilience shines like a bright sunset through winter trees, reminding me that everything is changing all the time.
Nothing is stagnant. The best we can do is hold on and hope we dismount with grace.
Book
I finished The Book by Alan Watts.
I am drawn to philosophy but don’t really like it. The wormholes are endless, the ouroboros gnaws away, the yarn is knitted and unraveled. And I think it’s a worthwhile pursuit, trying to figure out the self. But like anything that allows us to ponder the meaning of why we’re here, it’s an endless one. In my attempt to become more comfortable with questions and unknowns, I will probably always read books like this on some level. But where I might’ve, as a younger person, been drawn to this subject matter to further assert my individuality, I now want to use it as a guide for the opposite: how to be water, not a rock.
Gratitude
love.
resilience.
faith.
healing.
The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
Why Don’t You…
(apologies to Ms. Vreeland, of course).
buy yourself flowers?
write someone a letter and send it in the mail?
remember when what you wanted is what you now have?
make your spring to do list?
What I made.
Kenny and I are circling the completion of the Saint Seven record. More work this coming week.
Favorite photo of the week
What brought me joy
yoga.
writing.
my sweet son, John Henry.
my animals.
believing in love.
Prayer
Thank you, Great Spirit, for the life you give me every day. Thank you for the blessing of my son, my sister, my family both biological and chosen. Thank you for the blessing of this experience, even when it seems like the hard times are too hard and too many. I know I must walk through periods of difficulty in order to learn what I need to learn until I transmute the lessons and see that every encounter with my woundedness is an opportunity to address it, not to try to numb the pain.
Humble me and lift me out of my pit. Send me the tests I need to remind me to choose the path that leads my soul home and to turn to you with every breath. Please strengthen my faith so I might hand all matters over to you and the wisdom to know you will work miracles in me through whatever you place in my blessed path. Remind me my choices determine my experiences and my lessons can come through positive ones rather than the opposite.
Allow me to gracefully release what is not meant for me and to hold tightly and lovingly to what is. Allow me to be open to change every day as you remind me it is the only constant besides you. Allow me to repair what is broken. Allow me awareness of my dissociative tendencies and keep me present so I may make choices that reflect the life I desire. Allow me clarity, focus, and courage. Allow me to rise to my highest vibration each day and spread truth and beauty wherever I go. May I learn how to truly forgive. With deep gratitude I pray that your will, and not mine, shall be done.
Intention for the week to come
May I be present and fully inhabit my mind, spirit, and physical body.
May I walk through the world with an open heart and without judgment.
May I be curious and ask questions before I decide.
May I breathe peace in, and breathe love out.
May I be humble and see myself clearly so I may accept my limitations while working to lovingly decrease them. May my progress be reflected through my actions, seen and unseen.
May I have the self-possession and grace to meet others with the kindness and acceptance I desire for myself.
May I find the flexibility in myself to gracefully accept the imperfections of life and not take inconveniences personally.
May I think before I speak.
May I think MORE than I speak.
May I first do no harm.
May I be grateful for what I have and may I not seek more for my selfish gain.
May I allow myself to trust but may I also always use my discernment.
May I have CLARITY and find a way to be CALM about it.
May I be patient.
May my vibration resonate in harmony with the universe.
May I remember it isn’t about me.
May I do good work.
May I have optimism and positive thoughts.
May I be open to what the Great Spirit knows is for me, and may I walk my path accordingly by remembering I can only take it one step at a time.
Something I’m thinking about
Change.
How long it takes and how we do it on a dime. How we often don’t do it if we aren’t forced to. How we resist the only thing that keeps us from dying, in so many ways.
I’m reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. I’d never read it, and there’s a round sensuality present in this memoir of 1920s Paris that he chiseled away by the early 1950s. That’s the process, and probably a good deal of the point for many writers, but it’s heartening to feel a more youthful openness in this posthumous account.
Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. — Buddha
Habit
Yoga before daylight.
Yoga after work.
Any time I slack on my practice, I wish I hadn’t.
Wishes
That we all are and will be well.
That we all are loved.
That we all put our pasts behind us every minute.
That we all have a glorious and fulfilling week.
That everyone who reads this will feel peace in at least some small way.
That you will forward this to one person you think might like it.
Have a wonderful, peaceful, joyous week. And thank you for supporting my work here at The Autotelic.
Peace. Love.
Allison
There are first edition copies of I Dream He Talks to Me and Blood in the shop. I will sign each copy that is ordered. If you would like it personalized, please send an email with your order number and the name you would like on the signature page to allisonmoorercontact@gmail.com.
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Looking forward to your new album ❤️❤️
Excited to hear your new music!
I just finished reading Neko Case’s memoir The Harder I Fight The More I Love You. Can’t recommend it enough. The prose is gorgeous as she tackles the dark and the light. Your thoughts on forgiveness brought me back to a passage from Case’s book on the subject. It’s too long to quote in full, but here’s a taste: “Forgiveness seems to be a sweet, brief rest at the crossroads of other things. It’s almost a divine by-product. It’s not a tiny golden diploma you bestow upon someone. Forgiveness takes many forms and may be as simple as the moment something no longer has power over you.” Plenty to ponder on this subject.