When in doubt, make a list. Plus a gift of trees.

[TIL #5] In which we learn of a list-making lifelong practice. And here’s your chance to get a copy of trees, a photographic tribute to the mysterious majesty of leafy beings.

Tales of Ink and Lights are short stories and poems told in a combination of words (the ink) and photographs (the light). Like the guitar and the voice in a folk song, text and pictures work together to bring you the story.

And this week’s story is…

Make a list.

Whenever he felt confused and found himself utterly unable to guess in which direction he should make the next step, Hugo Brauquelain did two things. He cautiously hid his state of mind to all, whether in the close circle or simple acquaintances, and there was not a soul on Earth who could have told how often such intense disarray descended upon him. Then, in order to soothe the mental agitation and in the hope of easing the emergence of some degree of clarity, he made a list.

In his notebooks, Hugo carefully left a couple of blank pages between each enumeration to ensure that the old ones would not influence the next list he would note. One day, as he returned from an expensive visit to a favourite local bookshop, he sat down to reflect on this lifelong habit that he had initiated in his teenage years. Caressing the cover of a new notebook of a larger size than his usual choice, he became concerned that the technique would lose its effectiveness over time. That is when he decided to write a list of the lists he could still do, and this is one we can find in the collection recently released by the family.

a list of things that cause confusion

a list of all the books that i will not write

a list of islands

a list of all the places i have been to

a list of the different types of moustache

a list of all the smiles i have run into this week

— a list of things that are blue

a list of hats

a concise list of regrets

a list of the persons who have helped me when i needed help

a list of my favourite trees

a list of the books i can remember loving at the time but could not even summarise now

a list of rains that caught me

— a list of the times i have listened to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue

a list of the songs i first listened to when i was 14 and i still enjoy listening to now

a list of favourite pastries

a list of the best clouds

a list of spaceships i would like to pilot at least once

a list of unexpected portals

a list of unforgettable roars of laughter

— a list of things that are not blue

a list of unexpected outcomes of decisions that were hard to make at the time

a list of the years yet to come

a list of hiccups

a list of large dragon trees

a short list of scents i took note of

a list of known and unknown demons

— a list of things that could look in blue

a list of good naps

a list of the friends i would like to have

a list of coffees at dawn

a list of the first names i thought were strange at first but then got used to with time

a list of all the fears

a list of Patti Smith concerts

— a list of all the shades of blue

a list of the best erections of my life

a list of moons

a list of the tears most violent

a list of the letters i would like to write

a list of the times a bird shat on me

a list of the times i showered in the rain

— a list of things that could turn blue if they wanted to

a list of the times i have read the Letters to a Young Poet

a list of words that i could not explain

a list of the most inappropriate thoughts

a list of awkward moments that i should not have allowed to happen

a list of areas of human knowledge i have no clue about

a list of the longest minutes

— a list of things

that are blue.

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                  Stop.
                                           Remember.
                                                                                       Look at the trees.

This week, i’ve had the satisfaction of finalising a project that had remained in a sleeping state for a little while. The photos above are from this project. Rooted in a childhood memory of driving at night through a forest, trees is a photographic tribute to the majesty and mystery of leafy beings. The ebook contains an introduction text and 38 photographs (colour and black and white) in a 50 A4 pages .pdf file.

I’ll be sending trees to all the new subscribers to this newsletter. I thought it would be nice to also give you, the early subscribers to the Tales, the opportunity to get your free copy.

It is just a couple of clicks away from your inbox: go to https://www.pierrefdocquir.com/trees, add the ebook to the cart, then use the discount code TIL+TREES at checkout. You will receive an email with your download link.

If you’re not into .pdf files, i’m also planning to release the project in other digital formats and on paper. For now, you can see an overview of the project at https://www.pierrefdocquir.com/trees.

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I’ve also spent some time making changes to my website and i’ve found that I enjoy the malleability of online media. Next on the list is a French version of the Tales, so i say à bientôt :-)

Thank you for reading the Tale of Ink and Light. Do not hesitate to write back to let me know what you think.

P.-S.: The Tales of Ink and Light are free to read. If they work on you — that is, if these tales make you smile, dream or think — would you do me a huge favour and share them with the people around you who you think would love them too?