Over the last two days, I stopped what I’ve been up to for the last six months or so, which is to continuously re-examine and revise the 107 essays, as well as adding numerous additional pieces to the project, some of which fit into the scheme of the book, some did not.
And I have to say, it’s a huge relief to stop. Which isn’t to say that I’m not looking at the essays anymore, I’m now in the far more technical work of line editing the pieces, paginating, and streamlining as best I can. Eventually, I will come upon an essay where I feel like I haven’t done enough, and I’ll go back and read the Montaigne essay again so I can append that piece. There are probably somewhere between five and ten of those in the collection.
But as for the core essays in the series, I’m now at the point of subtracting and tightening, not adding.
The real relief, however, is stopping the self reflection process that was part of going over the most central pieces of the work. In stepping away, I wonder just how regularly Montaigne devoted himself to this process and how often he had to create breaks for himself, because it can get exhausting.Being in that self reflective mindset for an extended period of time is very difficult and not something I can recommend anyone jump into. It’s best to enter into it gradually.
However, it feels very good to exit it rapidly. I hope to give my mind, heart and soul plenty of time away from the process.
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