What I Gained From Writing 365 Thank You Notes In One Year

"I would say what you feel is presence," Allen told me. "They put aside the distractions and mental fragmentations that arise from living in the modern world."

"If you've turned on the television while swiping through your phone at dinner, the mind will be fragmented and unfocused, and ultimately you will be unrooted in your conscious experience," Allen said. "Your awareness begins to weaken as it pulls in many different directions. One of the great benefits of meditation is that it creates and cultivates a lot of inner space. It makes you feel like you are aware of the thoughts and feelings that arise that come into it your mind and body. "

"And so, in writing these thank you notes," he continued, "you were tapping into a positive emotion and narrowing your focus. Plus, you've done one thing repeatedly, and it's something like that." a mantra. "

"In meditation, the idea is that a mantra – repeating a phrase or even a sound – acts like a windshield wiper so the brain doesn't get caught up in thoughts, tales, and stories," Allen explained. "It's almost self-hypnosis. If you repeat the same process of writing these cards over and over, it acts like a physical mantra – which is very common in Buddhism. One example is when monks come together and make giant mandalas out of colored straws."

"Like rosaries," I said, thinking of my (aptly named) great-aunt Rosie, who wore rosaries everywhere. Everyone agreed.

In putting together my thank you notes to make them easier to write, I accidentally created a mantra. That month, the batch for my father's healers started with the sentence: It has been almost 10 years … According to everyone, that simple wiper of a sentence would clear my mind and let the memories and more meaningful messages flow.