STEP 00
Before the light. Sit where you sit. Do not name the day yet — naming comes in step twenty-three.
- LOCAL TIME
- 05:00:00
- LIGHT
- none · 0 lx
- BREATH
- slow
the room is still the color of last night.
STEP 01
Observe the light. Do not name it yet. Let it arrive at the window before you decide what it is.
- LOCAL TIME
- 06:30:00
- LIGHT
- indirect, east · 40 lx
- BREATH
- steady
first warmth on the floorboards, narrow as a ruler.
STEP 02
Record one phrase. The phrase is for you. It does not need to be true tomorrow.
- LOCAL TIME
- 08:00:00
- LIGHT
- direct, southeast · 220 lx
- BREATH
- even
coffee, then the small task I have been avoiding.
STEP 03
Mark the angle of the day. Note where the light falls and how wide the band of it is.
- LOCAL TIME
- 09:24:11
- LIGHT
- direct, south · 380 lx
- ANGLE
- 34°
the wall is bright enough to read against.
STEP 04
Step 04 introduces a 30-second silence. Do not skip it. Set nothing down. Record nothing during it.
- LOCAL TIME
- 11:00:00
- SILENCE
- 30 s
- BREATH
- held, then released
thirty seconds is longer than it sounds at a desk.
STEP 05
Note the meal, or the absence of one. The day is a unit; lunch is a tick inside it.
- LOCAL TIME
- 12:30:00
- LIGHT
- flat, overhead · 540 lx
- BREATH
- even
ate standing, looking at nothing in particular.
STEP 06
The slow hour. Record the texture of attention now — is it direct, scattered, or southwest?
- LOCAL TIME
- 14:22:08
- LIGHT
- direct, southwest · 410 lx
- BREATH
- steady
the part of the afternoon that asks for nothing.
STEP 07
Mark the turn. The light begins to leave the south wall. Record what is unfinished without judging it.
- LOCAL TIME
- 16:00:00
- LIGHT
- raking, west · 260 lx
- ANGLE
- 18°
long shadows from short objects on the sill.
STEP 08
Record the last bright reading. After this, the values fall. This is expected; it is not a loss.
- LOCAL TIME
- 17:45:00
- LIGHT
- low, west · 120 lx
- BREATH
- even
the window goes amber, then ordinary.
STEP 09
Note the switch from daylight to lamp. The day continues; only the source changes.
- LOCAL TIME
- 19:10:00
- LIGHT
- lamp, warm · 90 lx
- BREATH
- slowing
turned on one light and left the others off.
STEP 10
Begin the close. Record one phrase about the whole day, not the hour. The phrase may contradict step 02.
- LOCAL TIME
- 21:00:00
- LIGHT
- lamp, low · 50 lx
- BREATH
- slow
it was a quiet day and that was the point.
STEP END
Name the day, if you want to. Then save this day. It is now a unit. Tomorrow opens a new file.
- LOCAL TIME
- 23:59:00
- LIGHT
- none · 0 lx
- STATUS
- saved
filed under: one ordinary spring day, kept.