August 19, 2022
Hello there,
I have nothing pithy to begin this week's list with. I'm just here in little old Cotati
loving the late August light, wondering how it can be back to school season already, and marveling at how much richness is available in watching the world go by for a bit. It seems I am breaking up with the drive of being over productive All-The-Time and the unhelpful shame of always failing at it. If you want to join me in the break up for a awhile here are few ways. I hope you enjoy them and find your own ways of dropping into life not ruled by demands of any productivity. That's right, let's
be lazy together!
1.
I love used books. I love that they had a journey before me and that when I pass them on their journey continues with someone else. I love when there
are inscriptions, "To Sally from Aunt Mary" or author signatures, or "this book belongs to Joan Martins" with the date.
2.
The Women Artists of Mohegan Island. I am continuing my quest for stories of older women artists and while this documentary is this, it also speaks to the power and
magic of place to call us to our creativity.
Has a place ever called you to something new you didn't feel anywhere else in the same way?
3.
If you are here in my realm chances are you swim in the more emotional and sensitive waters of living. There is power and
calling in this.
Often it takes the musicians, the poets, the selectors, to do the kind of … feeling that most people don’t have the time to do, because they are occupied with the business of trying to make a living
or trying to get by, trying to support families, trying to just living in this world.
So if you are a poet soul, someone with this raw sensitivity, then it’s kind of your job to mine the experiences and make some sense of what’s going in your life, so that hopefully someone can hear it, feel it, connect with it and be just a bit closer to themselves.
- Kae Tempest, BBC6 Craig Charles Show (21 March
2022)
4.
I don't think of myself as a
bird person but I have been having so much fun with Merlin Bird ID. It is an app that lets you identify birds and bird songs. I have been using the sound ID and learning what bird songs are in my neighborhood. Sadly there is so much road work noise right now bird songs are hard to hear, but when they do I am getting such joy out of
knowing who is talking.
Know that if you get the app (and if you do let me know how you like it!) you will also get emails from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Of course you can unsubscribe from those because who
needs more email, however I have been enjoying the tips on how to increase the bird joy around me.
5.
A blessing for your week: