I’m returning to my handwriting therapy after an extended interruption, since my mother’s stroke took me away from home. During that time I really missed this daily discipline: though I haven’t been doing these exercises long, they’ve already started to seem like an entirely positive—and enjoyable—habit, and a big help when it comes to centering my inner self and preparing for a more orderly, purposeful, and balanced day ahead.

Now there’s an interruption from the outside world, in the form of a small, flustered woman calling to me in an angry voice, revealing unmistakable signs of impatience. However, I try not to lose the slow, deliberate, meditative rhythm of my writing, because I know these daily exercises will do wonders for my health and character, transforming a whole plethora of bad behaviors into good ones and catapulting me blissfully into a life of happiness, joy, money, and success with women and in other games of chance. And now, without further ado, I bid myself farewell until the same time tomorrow, or earlier if possible.

September 25

My handwriting therapy continues. Yesterday, the person who usually reviews these pages said the writing had become a bit more difficult to read after the long break. I think there are at least two reasons for this, and one, of course, is lack of practice. The other, which is interesting to consider, is the fact that yesterday, unlike previously, the act of saying something and the question of how to say it (in other words, literature) felt more important than the pure calligraphical exercise.

Right. I’m getting distracted again and paying too little attention to the handwriting and too much to the subject matter, which is anti-therapeutic, at least in the therapeutic context I’ve chosen. I’m sure this shift in focus would be welcome and constructive in other therapeutic contexts, but I can’t go mixing the different elements here. I need to stick to what I set out to do: producing a kind of insubstantial but legible text.

I think my handwriting’s clearer today than yesterday. Let’s see what the person who usually reviews these pages has to say about it.

September 26