The Journaling Muse – Issue #53 What Are You Building, Layer by Layer?
A weekly journaling letter for slowing down and coming back to yourself.
Through colour, texture, and expressive journaling, the Journaling Muse offers a gentle space to soothe your nervous system and reconnect with your inner world.
Dear Reader,
The Vistula was frozen when I stepped into the Japanese Museum last week, looking for beauty.
Inside, everything slowed down.
Then I saw the lacquerware — black surfaces holding light like water holds the moon. Gold lines tracing cranes mid-flight, mountains, passing seasons. Each piece felt like a small world.
The placard said something that stopped me: these objects weren’t just beautiful. They were made to be companions, touched, used, loved into meaning through daily rituals.
I learned that lacquer is built in dozens of paper-thin layers. Each one applied, polished, left to rest. The process takes months, sometimes years. When it’s finished, the surface doesn’t just reflect light, it breathes with it.
I thought about what it means to make something that slowly. To pour that much care into an ordinary bowl. Not to impress, to pour your heart into it.
Before I left, I sat in the tea room. Wrapped my hands around a cup and let the warmth travel.
Outside, the river was still frozen. But something inside had shifted — not the world, but how I was holding it.
A One-Minute Pause
Place your hand over your heart. Ask quietly:
“What am I building, layer by layer, right now?”
Notice what surfaces first, a thought, a project, a feeling.
That’s enough. No writing required.
Your talisman for this week:
(A little phrase to carry with you, something I’m learning too.)
I’m allowed to return to what I’m making, layer by layer.
Cheering you on,
Beáta
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