A Year of Mercies: On Anniversaries

Celebrating a whole year of Monday Mercies!!!

Hi everyone, happy Monday! Today is especially exciting, because Monday Mercies are celebrating their one year anniversary. One whole year. Itself, a mercy.

Here’s the lift I’m pondering today:

celebrate persistent trekking

And also, from an anniversary card I once saw:

love you still

It’s been a bit of a journey. It started with a story of loss from a class I was taking (“shadows reveal light”) and the first Monday Mercy (“Impatience will pass”), though I wonder if it really started much earlier than that (“beneath soil, germination”).

This tinkering with words, feeling for resonance — like the tuning of a stringed instrument — in a way it’s easy. Just three words. You can succeed. And yet, it’s surprisingly difficult: who knew three words could take so long? Words fill hours. Or perhaps drain?

In some ways, I’ve grown to love the practice. What forces crouch in just three words? What flames hide in the rubbing of stick, branch, tree? Rockslides await release. From dust, stars.

And yet, I also dread it. Am I just annoying people? Does meaning translate? Or is it just words: incoherent infant babbling? Does it overwhelm, detract from my other work? You should know: I hate email as much as you do. In our content saturated world treading the line of spam versus gift can feel more like moonless stumbling on a cliff’s edge. Suspended across chasms.

Still, some of the highlights of my year have been sparked by mercies. A three word text from a friend, “flower tangled hair.” A comment, as a mercy, “brain dripping good.” Every now and then these little words seem to strike a chord that resonates across the great electronic void, somehow moving us just a little closer together. I’m so thankful for all the people who have contributed their voices to the conversation: Luis, Katelyn, Larissa, Jim, Sheri, Joe, Stan, Krista, Dave, John, Casey. Mercies are conversations. Indeed.

So, we’ve circled the sun: orbital returns refresh. What does this mean, going forward? I don’t know. But I think we continue. Circles ever returning. As my friend Jim put it, “Now’s yesterday’s future.”

And I have hope: hope of old and new resonances, old and new voices, a growing conversation. Joy’s a direction. I hope you’re excited to come along.

As my teacher Luis put it: “I’m headed yonder.” Let’s go!

P.S. Did you have a favorite mercy from this past year? Or, have you had a mercy of your own percolating? I’d love to hear it! You can share feedback and mercies by commenting below, or emailing me at lukeleisman@substack.com.

I hope, like always, that you have a wonderful week!

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Monday Mercies use an experimental writing form - the “three word mercy” to share a little lift for your week - a small reminder to keep looking up. To read more about what we’re doing here, check out this post.