I know things are hard and weird and that maybe this is an understatement; I know things are about to get harder and weirder, which is hard to fathom, given this hellish year; I know the transition from one season to another can be tough for many of us.
I also know that the only way to get through the hard and the weird is to hold onto pleasure and joy, which is another way of saying, our humanity.
This week’s question:
How are you holding onto joy?
My joy is humbler these days. Quieter. Private, often. I’m thinking of the way my dog makes me laugh when I let him off leash at the park and he sprints around like a puppy; giggling with my housemate over work from home lunches; fresh flowers I forage from the neighborhood; the way the light tilts sideways and casts a warm glow on everything as the days become shorter; fresh, clean, holy air.
Will you tell me yours? 👇🏽
I love you. Keep going. And let me know how you are—and how you stay close to joy, below ♥️ (also forgive today’s semi-colon overuse, por favor!).
xxoodani
⛓’s du jour:
💡“Fears aren’t facts.” What to do when you get caught in the loop of catastrophizing.
🏋🏽♀️ I’m currently working on an assignment about how my weightlifting habit helped me get through the anger of early sobriety. I love Henry Rollins’ (fellow longtime member of le club) take on “Iron and the Soul.”
🏞 Many of you know I’m an Artist’s Way acolyte, and I really appreciated this article about artist’s dates under Pandemia (thanks Kerry for this one!).
✈️ I’m still not quite sure what I think about these “flights to nowhere” - flights that land in the same place the depart from (mostly I think I feel…uncomfortable?).
🤸🏽♀️ If there is one link you click on this week, let it be this one. Tonya Mosley of the Truth Be Told podcast interviews both her 93-year-old grandmother, and one of my favorite souls/brains/hearts, adrienne maree brown, about holding onto joy during awful times.
Thank you so much for being a part of this community. If you like this newsletter, please consider sending it to a friend or subscribing. And don’t forget to drop your joy in the comments below <3
Oreos? Fall is the sweetest season for me, because it holds so many cherished memories. When the cool breezes sweep in from the west and the sun dips lower on the horizon, I know fall is on its way. And when it's here, misty mornings give way to brilliant blue days with scarlet sugar maples, yellow ashes, and ever proud evergreens. It all gives way to night skies that are cold as they are dark, and stars that make you stop and look up and pay tribute to loved ones far away.
There's something joyful about Oreos too...maybe it's the fact there are two cookies (chocolate to boot) in one, with frosting on both sides.
first comes poetry, then comes oreos - this is the world i want to live in, always.
Fall is my favorite season, too. In SF the sky is clear and crisp, the visibility is bonkers (Mt Diablo to the east! Farallon Islands hanging out in bold relief 27 miles off shore!). These last days before it gets dark...
I’ve been practicing yoga with an instructor in NYC live via Zoom. He has special instructions about what to wear and how to position your mat so he can see you practice. Getting verbal adjustments re: alignment is amazing and the instructor is such a sweet, happy soul- it’s the closest I’ve felt to being back in a yoga studio since the pandemic started and its made a huge difference in my mood. Interested folks should join us! happywarrioryoga.com
I have been: Enjoying the sun on cool breezy days, where I live we don't have many of these days yet so they are a treat. Searching for the best AF ginger beer. Planning vacations that I have no idea when my family will be able to go on (Yellowstone is looking mighty fine). Throwing things out, it feels so so good.
I'm trying to take my coffee outside in the mornings and do my morning pages there. It's just 20 minutes or so, but it makes a big difference.
sometimes I can't believe the difference 20 minutes can make.
Oreos? Fall is the sweetest season for me, because it holds so many cherished memories. When the cool breezes sweep in from the west and the sun dips lower on the horizon, I know fall is on its way. And when it's here, misty mornings give way to brilliant blue days with scarlet sugar maples, yellow ashes, and ever proud evergreens. It all gives way to night skies that are cold as they are dark, and stars that make you stop and look up and pay tribute to loved ones far away.
There's something joyful about Oreos too...maybe it's the fact there are two cookies (chocolate to boot) in one, with frosting on both sides.
first comes poetry, then comes oreos - this is the world i want to live in, always.
Fall is my favorite season, too. In SF the sky is clear and crisp, the visibility is bonkers (Mt Diablo to the east! Farallon Islands hanging out in bold relief 27 miles off shore!). These last days before it gets dark...
I’ve been practicing yoga with an instructor in NYC live via Zoom. He has special instructions about what to wear and how to position your mat so he can see you practice. Getting verbal adjustments re: alignment is amazing and the instructor is such a sweet, happy soul- it’s the closest I’ve felt to being back in a yoga studio since the pandemic started and its made a huge difference in my mood. Interested folks should join us! happywarrioryoga.com
I have been: Enjoying the sun on cool breezy days, where I live we don't have many of these days yet so they are a treat. Searching for the best AF ginger beer. Planning vacations that I have no idea when my family will be able to go on (Yellowstone is looking mighty fine). Throwing things out, it feels so so good.
i just deep cleaned my room this week and part of that was clearing out/organizing my desk - my brain feels like it has so much more space!