a truncated ten things
or, one extremely ordinary but glorious fall weekend
hello, friends -
I feel a little discombobulated today. The outer world is chaos. War and terror rage on. Our political landscape grows more perplexing and horrifying to me. We haven’t healed from COVID.
On a micro scale, as well, people I love are hurting. They have difficult decisions looming. They are facing unforeseen forks in roads, losing people they love, and going blindly into a future that feels fraught and unmanageable.
And yet. My weekend was lovely. It was even, dare I say it, glorious. There was delicious food and long walks and plenty of time in nature. The moon shone almost as brightly as the sun. Part of me feels guilty for feeling calm and content in my own skin when there is so much pain in the world. And at the same time, part of me understands that my peace is vital to a collective peace. Teachers I’ve been turning to frequently, including bell hooks and adrienne maree brown and Grace Lee Boggs, remind me that the collective revolution not only can make room for but requires my own ability to stay creative, calm, and resilient. They teach me that love, in fact, is a form of resistance. That intentionally working towards, and being in, right relationship with other humans and the earth is my work.
And so without further ado, a speedy take on ten things:
A high school soccer game with my daughter beneath the full moon.
Moon Over Sports Complex Parking Lot, October 2024 Vegetarian meal at a local bar.
A bike ride on local trails.
Still reading East of Eden.
Rereading a beautiful poetry collection.
These short stories.
Soup! (With ingredients almost exclusively from the farmer’s market: including onion, garlic, jalapeño, dried porcinis, fresh oyster mushrooms, locally-grown beef, and bok choy.)
A moonlight swim.
Marcella Hazan’s pasta bolognese tonight with my youngest and her BF.
Even a year ago, this level of contentment and ease would have felt simply impossible to me. And yet—here I am, living it. I send love and gratitude to each of you, because writing this weekly newsletter is one of the practices that, quite literally, has changed my life. It has functioned as part gratitude journal, part mindfulness exercise, and part craft experiment. I am so, so grateful to each of you for being a part of this work these last few weeks and months and years. Here’s to more calm for all of us—locally as well as globally.
xoxo, F
What I tell myself (when I remember) is: when I feel joy and peace and contentment I'm feeling them for me, yes, and also for people who are still struggling -- a way of saving a seat for them, a kind of psychic "care package" that I can send them by holding them and this moment of peace together in my awareness.
So glad you had a weekend like that, Francesca. Thank you for telling us about it. 💛🌿
Embrace the joy! You are fortunate to find it in so many ways. 💚