But Daou seems to have a different meditation going on. She’s copying and translating. Writing it by hand seems like a ritual but it also reminds me of how Hunter S. Thompson re-typed the entirety of the Great Gatsby because he wanted to learn how to write like Fitzgerald. It’s like by rewriting it by hand, something of the original process will be absorbed almost by osmosis. It’s as though through the ritural of rewriting, you can get into the mindset of the person who originally wrote the words. You’re taking the words into your body and making the same gestures that created them in the first place.

I guess this is meditation that produces meaning for me. I don’t think its ritual because to me, ritual is something with a schedule attached – an ongoing practice that occurs regularly, rather than sporadically or because I “need” to do it. And honestly, ritual is tough for me. I’ve tried to make a “ritual” of journaling but it’s never stuck. I suppose I’ve yet to learn how to attach meaning to that process in a way that’s important to me.