I have a coffee table with a big glass top and a drawer underneath where you can put stuff to view through the glass. Thanks to you, today, I decided it is a drawer of githerments, which is anything I have around the house that is small enough to get lost anywhere else, so it goes into the drawer for display. My great-nieces and nephews love to look at the githerments... old seed packets, pretty rocks, shells, tiny plates, little books, marbles, family mementos, and who knows what else!
This lovely bit of writing inspired me to become a payed subscriber. One of my githerments is discovering synchronicities. My husband and I find them weekly and they feel like acknowledgments of our shared interconnectedness to the whole world.
What a great perspective, Amy, especially noting what one frequently texts to others, or the "inside" joke between family and friends about what one finds funny. What fun encouragement to draw/paint/write about the sometimes-hidden things that make one into that particular one. Loved this! I've bookmarked it as a 2026 reference for drawing. Thanks and happiest new year, too!
It seems our githerments need curiosity cabinets. One of my githerments is old scientific drawings of fish and bugs. I think I’ll start adding these to my altered book journal.
I love collecting my githerments (love the word!); the problem is that they are not organized very well... they tend to accummulate in too many places (notebooks, sketchbooks, One Note, Post-its, desk drawers...). I need to figure out a way to organize them! And I love the idea of sketching them!
By the way, I don't necessarily appreciate it when other people decide on my githerments! Years ago, somehow friends got the impression that I collected Mickey Mouse things, and suddenly I did (though not by choice). A better example: A friend used to have an amazing collection of yard flamingoes and small flamingo knick-knacks. When I complimented her on her collection, she laughed and said she didn't know she collected them until her friends decided she did!
oh, and that’s another thing I want to explore more…what do you do with all those githerments? And I do think that at a certain point they might deserve their own sketchbook. A worthy topic of discussion.
YES. That is a risk. You start trading cat memes with somebody and later realize they were never really into cats. But sometimes, even that can become part of the joke, like it’s a connection in its own weird way…
Now I'm going to draw each and every item I've collected on my walks in the woods. If they were interesting enough to carry home in my pocket, they're interesting enough for my journal. Thank you!
OK so it’s interesting that you say that, because there are squirrels running around everywhere here, and I just recently thought, you know, I could actually be studying these squirrels and figuring out what exactly they’re up to, and even offering them things to see what they do with them….so I might be developing a squirrel githerment too. I mean, why not, when they’re here anyway?
I love to journal, write poetry, and sit/walk in nature. I am not sure how I found your substack Amy, except that the word "Githerment" popped out at me. My friend and I started a women's meditation and writing group a month ago. I love ephemera and memes. My brain exploded (in a good way) with all sorts of creative endeavors while reading this post. Now I am seeing "Githerment" everywhere, thank you!
I have a coffee table with a big glass top and a drawer underneath where you can put stuff to view through the glass. Thanks to you, today, I decided it is a drawer of githerments, which is anything I have around the house that is small enough to get lost anywhere else, so it goes into the drawer for display. My great-nieces and nephews love to look at the githerments... old seed packets, pretty rocks, shells, tiny plates, little books, marbles, family mementos, and who knows what else!
This is fantastic!
One of my githerments is the collection of unusual words. Now I have added the wonderful word, githerments! Thank you!
Excellent!
This lovely bit of writing inspired me to become a payed subscriber. One of my githerments is discovering synchronicities. My husband and I find them weekly and they feel like acknowledgments of our shared interconnectedness to the whole world.
Oh wow! Now see, that is a fantastic subject for a sketchbook or notebook! More to come on that idea.
What a great perspective, Amy, especially noting what one frequently texts to others, or the "inside" joke between family and friends about what one finds funny. What fun encouragement to draw/paint/write about the sometimes-hidden things that make one into that particular one. Loved this! I've bookmarked it as a 2026 reference for drawing. Thanks and happiest new year, too!
Yes I think the inside joke type things in particular are key to this!
It seems our githerments need curiosity cabinets. One of my githerments is old scientific drawings of fish and bugs. I think I’ll start adding these to my altered book journal.
I love collecting my githerments (love the word!); the problem is that they are not organized very well... they tend to accummulate in too many places (notebooks, sketchbooks, One Note, Post-its, desk drawers...). I need to figure out a way to organize them! And I love the idea of sketching them!
By the way, I don't necessarily appreciate it when other people decide on my githerments! Years ago, somehow friends got the impression that I collected Mickey Mouse things, and suddenly I did (though not by choice). A better example: A friend used to have an amazing collection of yard flamingoes and small flamingo knick-knacks. When I complimented her on her collection, she laughed and said she didn't know she collected them until her friends decided she did!
oh, and that’s another thing I want to explore more…what do you do with all those githerments? And I do think that at a certain point they might deserve their own sketchbook. A worthy topic of discussion.
YES. That is a risk. You start trading cat memes with somebody and later realize they were never really into cats. But sometimes, even that can become part of the joke, like it’s a connection in its own weird way…
I live in Yorkshire I’m going to keep my ear out and see if anyone still uses this word. I don’t recall hearing it but I will let you know if I do
oooh please do let me know! I was just in Yorkshire and I loved it!
Now I'm going to draw each and every item I've collected on my walks in the woods. If they were interesting enough to carry home in my pocket, they're interesting enough for my journal. Thank you!
Oh yes absolutely!
Squirrels! Yes, squirrels - not cute little furry bits, but Sciuiridae in general - are my major githerment.
OK so it’s interesting that you say that, because there are squirrels running around everywhere here, and I just recently thought, you know, I could actually be studying these squirrels and figuring out what exactly they’re up to, and even offering them things to see what they do with them….so I might be developing a squirrel githerment too. I mean, why not, when they’re here anyway?
Look over the things you've collected on your pinterest boards for clues about your 'githerments'!
Oh yeah that’s a great idea!
Very cool! Thanks for this 🐓❄️🌟
This article has given my daughter and me hours of conversations. We both collect githerments! She may be the queen of them. Bits are her joy!
Oh wow! I love it that this has become a topic of conversation!
I love to journal, write poetry, and sit/walk in nature. I am not sure how I found your substack Amy, except that the word "Githerment" popped out at me. My friend and I started a women's meditation and writing group a month ago. I love ephemera and memes. My brain exploded (in a good way) with all sorts of creative endeavors while reading this post. Now I am seeing "Githerment" everywhere, thank you!
Ooooh, thanks so much! I want to see what you end up doing with this idea!
We’re all a collection of our own desires and interests.
Loving the word “githerments”! Thank you 🙏🏻
Hi Amy- wasn't sure where to post this but thought u would like to read this - but I'm guessing you already have!
https://www.mattkracht.com/fieldguidetodumbbirdsofnorthamerica
Oh yes I love that book!