The Path I've Traveled: practicing Anamesis

Dear Diary,

I love learning new words and yesterday I learned a really good one...Anamesis. It means "intentional recollection". I thought that was a perfect word to describe the journey I have been on in this journal. Today is the last day of year two and images can be keys that unlock the warehouse of our memory. Through them we can re-experience our past.

"The past isn't dead...it isn't even past" - William Faulkner

With my love of Celtic spirituality I also recognized the word "anam" contained within this new word. In Gaelic, anam means "soul". The suffix "esis" refers to "a condition, action or process". I was able to then relate this idea of intentional recollection to a process of the soul...an intimate internal journey of memory and connection.

To illustrate this I chose this stone bird that I made after a trip to Pembroke, Maine a couple of years ago. My cousin and I picked up pieces of shale along a beach near the house we had rented. Looking at this contemplative "souvenir", I was able to re-experience that wonderful trip. The same is true of the extra photograph which was taken in front of the house.

This is a perfect way to end journal #2. Each year is a journey and the journal records each step along the way and through the images contained within the journal I can practice "anamesis" whenever I want!