Sunday Meditations by JB Minton

A Room for Reflection

Every home should have a space used for reflective behavior.

• Meditation & prayer.

• Reading.

• Listening to music (preferably on vinyl or CD).

• Writing by hand.

• Minimal digital scrolling and try to keep the screens out of these spaces.

The world doesn’t have to move so fast. It didn’t for most of human history. The world moved so much slower when I was a kid. We are at the end phase of the first wave of impact from networked information that we carry around in our hands all day.

When I graduated from high school in the early 1990s, my reference technology was the Dewey Decimal System. And I knew how to use it to find what I wanted to know. I used my library. My local library was the place I went to when I felt lost, bored, apathetic, and angry. I am instantly calm in the presence of many books in the same space. I feel surrounded by the best ideas.

Humans who write books are superhumans. Truly. I count myself among them because writing a book isn’t easy. Publishing one is even more challenging. Putting books out for global consumption is an unnatural action that to the poser feels self-congratulatory, but I’ve wanted to write a book since I first read Where The Red Fern Grows in the fourth grade. I wanted my words to hit others as hard as that book struck me.

Growing up, I experienced the world through popular American stories in movies, music, comic books, cartoons, and novels, which altered my consciousness. I always dreamed of having a library in my home. I also wanted a theater room. Indeed, I was able to manifest both spaces in my home so I could reflect on and enjoy art and create some of my own.

Email me with the subject line “REFLECTION” and tell me about the calm spaces you’ve created in your home and living environment. You may teach me about something I need to add to my spaces.

By the way, I am so grateful you have subscribed to read my words every week or two. It means a great deal to me.

Now, let’s get to the VIP conversation for paid subs. Here’s what I’m rapping about this week:

1. Introducing you to my new dog. He’s a cool dude, and his pictures will be worth the upgrade alone.

2. I answer the ancient stumper, “Is it socially acceptable to wear the shirt of the band you’re going to see?”

3. Finally, I’ll briefly tell you why I love the character of Jack Reacher.

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