Shisa-San

Daily literature, diary fragments, poetry, philosophy, history, depth psychology, classical art, language, shadow integration, cultural memory. Curated daily excerpts since 2019. From the diaries and letters of world writers. Date-matched. Soul-dedicated. I don’t just collect others’ work. I’ve been writing for my own soul for as long as I can remember (I believe it began in third grade). This is not just a blog. It is a contemplative field. A space for those who read with their whole being. It holds more than what is visible. The excerpts I share are never meant to replace the books; they are invitations to read them. Please respect the intention, silence, and sacred texture behind what is shared. This space is crafted with devotion. It is not for consumption. It is a quiet room for the soul. Authored and archived by Aleksandra Alba.

[shisasan]

To eat raspberries (I just ate a cupful) is to live.

July 3, 1964 Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters First published: 1977

[shisasan]

“You darkness, that I come from, I love you more than all the fires that fence in the world, for the fire makes a circle of light for everyone, and then no one outside learns of you.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

[moonandtrees]

[shisasan]

circa June, 1968 Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters First published: 1977

[ID: Date — circa June 1968 Text — I am a witch, an enchantress of sorts and have already been worshipped and hung and in the same order. END ID]

[shisasan]

a scarlet lip-stick.

25 July, 1927 The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf (1924-1941)

[unusual-suspects]

x

[shisasan]

“What I had once mistaken for death was, instead, a door.”

— Rachel McKibbens

[shisasan]

“Anguish patiently waited for me.”

— 𝙼𝚎𝚜𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚌, 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚑 (𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟼)

[shisasan]

Back at the office, in the dregs of despair.

July 25, 1916 Letters to Felice by Franz Kafka First published : 1973

[archiveofcath]

“She lit my soul and inhaled deeply Flicking my ashes occasionally.”

— Henry Rollins (via kittencrimson)

[shisasan]

We will walk over the meadows and you will tell me stories.

25 July, 1927 The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf (1924-1941)

[shisasan]

Exploring the Japanese Concept of YUGEN | Mysterious Beauty & Cultivated Imagination

To watch the sun sink behind a flower clad hill. To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return. To stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands. To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds. Motokiyo Zeami, Yugen (幽玄)

[shisasan]

there are sentences that deserve to land on paper.

[shisasan]

July 24, 1920 Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka First published : 1952

[shisasan]

July 24, 1920 Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka First published : 1952

[shisasan]

The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf (1924-1941)

[windwaver]

[shisasan]

Spirited Away (2001), dir. Hayao Miyazaki