Earlier this week, before The News hit, a friend told me about some serious life shit she is going through—big big, line in the sand, walking through the fire, life passage shit. And right after she opened up about this, she shared about how earlier that day, on a break from her very intense job in healthcare, she went outside and sat in the sun and enjoyed a whole ice cream, her favorite flavor, on a cone.
As the news swirled this week, I kept recalling my friend’s ice cream moment. I wish these humble pockets of delight for all of us, these points of light and joy and pleasure inside, alongside, the dark.
Here are a few things for me right now:
Silly moments with The Tater.
Sticking my nose in the roses that are popping off all over the neighborhood.
Snort laughing with friends.
This song (when that reggaeton beat drops hella unexpectedly!)
Ice Cream Moments are not a bypassing. They are required to stay in the fight.
What are your moments? Let us know below👇🏽 I’m always inspired by the ways y’all care for yourselves.
The Left is incredible at experiencing these intense, super-nova hot bursts of anger and emotion and energy and converting them to short-term bursts of action. We are incredible at mobilizing for single-day protests. We are amazing at giving money left and right in the immediate days and weeks when we feel most defeated. But that’s not organizing, that’s not twenty Evangelical women gathering around kitchen tables to lick envelopes in 1977, that’s not spreading the word, from church to church, to vote for Reagan instead of Carter.
That’s the bad news.
The good news, though, is that for those of us who love justice for all, we too walk on the shoulders of organizers, of foreparents who recognized that the real work happens when you’re at your lowest, when the world assumes that you’ve lost.
👀Watch: I only watch fifteen second Instagram videos because I have the soul of an abuelita and and it’s lights out by 9pm over here most nights. But here is a video of my husband, as it were.
🎧Listen: Every time I hear Chanel Miller speak I cry the whole time. This was no exception.
That’s it for this week, mis amores. Take good care of yourselves this weekend, take good care of each other, and I’ll see you Tuesday.
Thank you so much for being a part of this community. If you like this newsletter, please consider leaving a comment, pressing the little “heart” button, or becoming a paid subscriber. Or respond and say hi, I *always* love hearing from you.
My ice cream moment is first thing in the morning when I let the puppy out of her crate. She does a flying leap onto my partner's head and then the three of us cuddle in bed for a few minutes before the day begins.
My ice cream moment was watching my black cat Millie, who plopped down on the foot rest in front of the coach, swat at both of my dog's tails this morning as I was brushing them in the sunroom. I am the only one up, the birds are chirping and I spent a good solid 30 minutes just loving on my furry friends. The dogs turned and sniffed her and she just laid there and let them. But watching her playfully swatting at their tails as she lounged was the sweetest.
My ice cream moment(s): Watching not one but two versions of "Pride and Prejudice" during an all-me-just-me weekend. The BBC version (Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy!!!) and the Keira Knightley version. And also, lilacs. They are in full bloom in my neighborhood. A divine scent, and they are such a beautiful old-fashioned flower. They always remind me of playing on the grass in my grandma's back yard. XOXO
My ice cream moment is first thing in the morning when I let the puppy out of her crate. She does a flying leap onto my partner's head and then the three of us cuddle in bed for a few minutes before the day begins.
my Tater is always the sweetest in the morning. This is magical <3
My ice cream moment was watching my black cat Millie, who plopped down on the foot rest in front of the coach, swat at both of my dog's tails this morning as I was brushing them in the sunroom. I am the only one up, the birds are chirping and I spent a good solid 30 minutes just loving on my furry friends. The dogs turned and sniffed her and she just laid there and let them. But watching her playfully swatting at their tails as she lounged was the sweetest.
love this. a rare moment of sibling kindness;)
My ice cream moment(s): Watching not one but two versions of "Pride and Prejudice" during an all-me-just-me weekend. The BBC version (Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy!!!) and the Keira Knightley version. And also, lilacs. They are in full bloom in my neighborhood. A divine scent, and they are such a beautiful old-fashioned flower. They always remind me of playing on the grass in my grandma's back yard. XOXO
ohhhhh this is dreamy!
My ice cream moment was playing in my friend’s backyard. Juggling, eating snacks, listening to music, laughing at each other - it was bliss.
yes! Friends are the best ice cream.