The InkTrace Ritual

A Ten-Minute End-of-Day Ritual of Reflection and Reclaiming Yourself

An InkTrace is a ritual exercise that does exactly what it says: tracing the events, struggles, joys of your day with ink and paper, leaving a talisman of all it contained…so you don’t have to take it with you.

Except, of course, the parts you want.

You can do an InkTrace with any kind of writing implement and any kind of paper, but the power of the ritual is directly proportional to the value you give the tools you use. Doesn’t mean you have to use expensive pen and paper, just that it will work better if you enjoy using them.*

There are four phases in an InkTrace: Ground, Trace, Distill, and Sigil, each divided into a Ritual (preparing for the work) and a Working (doing the work). Think of the Ritual as gathering the ingredients for a recipe, and the Working as actually making the dish.

I. Ground

Ritual

Touch your tools.

Smooth the page.

Pick up and uncap your pen.

(closing your eyes for this phase may increase its power)

Working

1. At the top of the page, write the date as you feel it. Thursday, maybe, or 20251205, or my birthday, or another goddamned day in paradise. Don’t feel obligated to use any “official” names or numbers if you don’t want to; this was your day, so you get to name it.
2. Underneath, choose one word or phrase that best describes the current weather inside your head. “Overcast and calm”, “sunny with a chance of laughter” -- take a look inside your own skull and be your own “me-teorologist.”

II. Trace

Ritual

Now quickly list what you actually did today.

• Use words, or pictures, or stick figures — no need to get fancy, unless you want to.
• No judgment: if you think of it, mark it. The mundane and the meaningful. Had coffee. Finished my book. Kissed my dog.
• This does not have to be an exhaustive list — some things will be easy to remember, and make a little room to remember things you forgot happened, but it doesn’t have to be in order, exact, or follow any pattern.

Working

1. Circle the things on your list that made you feel more you.
2. Cross out the things that didn’t.

Don’t overthink it, and again, no judgement. Not everything needs to be circled or crossed out; this is just a reminder of the ways you spend your time that might be resonant or draining, depending.

III. Distill

Ritual

Quickly, instinctively, in two or three sentences, answer these two questions about your day:

1. What felt nourishing to the world I’d like to create for myself?

And then:

1. What felt off-key? Not wrong — just dissonant, like a part of a puzzle that didn’t quite fit.

Working

Simply this:

1. Put your hand over these sentences.
2. Inhale and let yourself take in what you wrote.
3. Exhale, and let go of anything you don’t need anymore today.

IV. Sigil

Ritual

1. Draw (or paint or collage or whatever) a symbol for the shape of tomorrow, as you picture it now.

• Again, stick figures, emojis, or memnants** work well for this.
• This is not a plan, or an intention, or a goal — this is simply reaching ahead and gently acknowledging the day to come.

Working

1. When you are done, take a breath.
2. On the exhale, close the InkTrace — shutting the notebook, folding the paper, turning the page.

The InkTrace is complete.

The InkTrace ritual is part of Papermancy

Created by me, Gray Miller, this was a response to me and my partner (both late-diagnosed ADHDers) realizing that while we knew that journaling was beneficial, it was also boring, or too complicated, or both, depending on our current state of neurospicy.

While Papermancy borrows from the metaphor of magic and “dark academia”, it is not modeled after any specific spiritual practice or belief. It is simply a fun little exercise in tactile cognition, an alternative to screens or broductivity-fueled prompts.

If you like it, and would like to know more about what is involved in Papermancy, sign up below. I'll never spam or share your email, but I will email you a PDF version of the InkTrace ritual that can be folded into a zine!

* while I’ve nothing against e-ink and tablets, this is an analog process.

** ”memnants” are what others often call “ephemera” — the little tickets, receipts, notes, etc that accumulate during our days. More on why papermancers use a different term in a future post…