acuity

April 26

Everything is not as it seems

lines align

horizontally
v
e
r
t
i
c
a
l
l
y a grid is formed

parallel lines mark our lifetime
yet the obvious is not apparent

focus on the dot
centre of screen

look closely at all
that you perceive

we cannot always see straight ahead
and hindsight seldom serves a purpose

distortions or distractions
breaks in the lines clarity
acuity

your central vision is not
the same on the periphery

at a distance do you readily
recognize common forms

you will not see things like me

you will not see the same
through
each eye or
each other

open or shut

are all the lines complete enough

even in the black and white
there are many areas of grey
not all lines remain
clear and straight

lines converge
edges distort

like life
we rarely see

the complete picture

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j.g. lewis

original content and images ©j.g. lewis

a decade of days…

2025 is an anthology of thoughts du jour, unsolicited advice, messages of peace, philosophy, poetry, and photographs from the past decade of Mythos & Marginalia. In unchronological order, the years not as important as the dates, each post a reminder (if only to myself) that I do indeed write every damn day.

January 2

too much to live for

As we tear the cellophane off a brand new year and look forward to what will come in the weeks and months ahead, it’s only natural to set goals and intentions. It is what we do as a society; common practice for our lives and times.

We make resolutions to find deeper sleep, exercise more, eat better, save more money, and complete all those things we have started. Often, in doing so, we set ourselves up for disappointment.

I’m not going to make any resolutions this year. Yes, I’ve got things that need to be tended to, and so much stuff in a perennial state of ‘almost done’, but I’m not going to make an exhaustive list and cave under the pressure of expectations.

Instead I’ve set a motto I hope will carry me through the year: Try to live tomorrow a little better than today.

It seems pretty simple to me. Each day I will try a little harder to get stuff done, I will try to communicate better than I have in the past, try to be a little kinder, and I will try to enjoy things that come my way without overthinking how they came to be.

I will try to make each day a little better.

Now, I’m not sure there is a quantitative method of measuring my progress, and I’m not really going to look for one. Don’t we already have enough checks and balances built into our lives? And as soon as you attempt to put some system of metrics in place, it just becomes a numbers game.

I am going to let my emotions and feelings determine how the day has been, or will be. I will make an honest, authentic attempt daily in some way. I will try because trying is the only way anything will happen.

The moment you stop trying is the moment you begin dying, and I have far too much to live for.

We all do.

01/02/2017

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December 30

Mondays are just young Fridays

Ten years ago, this website was only a blank page; not quite a dream and slightly more than a concept.

When I originally launched Mythos & Marginalia, I was incautiously unsure about the form it would take. I committed myself to writing at least one piece a week to appear, always, on a Wednesday.

I was pretty sure, at that time, that there would be bits and pieces on other days of the week. If I was moved or had the time, if the stars aligned or the moon gave me a nudge, or if something was really bothering me, I would set my thoughts free. This would become my daily breath.

Soon, Mondays became young Fridays and the days between contained photographs, essays, rants or raves, and my poetry. Each day of the week, over the past decade, has become evidence of my trials and tribulations, travels far and wide, and many concerns and consternations which still dog me today.

Mythos & Marginalia is fundamentally a first-person account of my words (flaws and all), wonders, inspirations and photographs that mattered at the time. They still do.

2025, for me, will be more than a summary of the decade up to now. In the coming year, every day, each piece or poem displayed on Mythos & Marginalia has appeared on that date sometime over the past decade. The reasons, seasons, and years change, yet the sentiment remains.

In addition to the daily posts, there will also be a somewhat regular newsletter, sayit4word, that will hopefully brighten your days. Please click on the subscribe button further down.

While you are at the bottom of this redesigned page, feel free to click on the logical and chronological archives, or the About section where you might get a better idea of who I am.

I have thoroughly enjoyed looking back at what has accumulated over the years; I hope you will as well. Essentially 2025 will be an anthology for me; a reminder that I do indeed write every damn day.

12/30/2024 j.g.l.

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December 28

changing changes

This is a changing world
with changing changes. We
are evolving (or should be).
We learn as required, or as
demanded. We think and act
differently, taking deliberate
action in an earnest attempt
to understand and keep up
with the quick pace of this
ever-changing existence. Do
you understand? What will
you learn today? How will it
differ from yesterday?

© 2021 j.g. lewis

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January 3

like this day

Sixteen times per minute,
twenty-two thousand breaths
in a day. No time
like the present.
There are no other excuses, but
there are always other ways.
Breathe. Choose today
to speak up when you can,
push out the latent sorrow,
guilt, and anguish
only you can understand.
Inhale. There is no life, no
oxygen, like this day. Despite
our selected perceptions,
there is not a
single breath to waste.

© 2018 j.g. lewis

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December 31

fresh start for 2025

When you start from zero

you are allowed, again, a

perspective without a lot

of unnecessary baggage.

Make the most of it.

Happy New Year.

12/31/2025 j.g.l.

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December 29

starting over

As we prepare to greet another year, looking ahead with both enthusiasm and uncertainty, it is an opportune time to reflect on what got us where we are.

Do not do so with regret.

What has happened has passed; the apprehension and anxieties that have dogged us in the past are better left unsaid. There is so much value in starting over.

In the process of rediscovering (even reinventing) who you are, find clarity in both your actions and intent. Disappointments and delusions will certainly have a say (they often do) but continue stepping forward anyway.

2025 is a fresh start.

May this coming year give you even more to think about. Enjoy each day.

12/29/2024 j.g.l.

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