five things friday: Barbie, Sinéad, even more rest
Published: Fri, 07/28/23
July 28, 2023
Hello there,
Here are some late July things that are moving me. Cultural moments, painful losses,
giving up to move on, rest, rest and more rest please.
I hope your world is also full of moving things both small and profound.
the moon during the day will always delight me
1.
Loved Barbie. Surprisingly touching, thought provoking, unexpected laugh out loud funny, and one of the best ending lines ever. I have
quibbles but not at all big enough to negate the shear fun of it and the cultural moment it is. There is a lot in this movie, and like Barbie it is anything you wish it to be.
2.
Sometimes you just have to reconcile and move on.
I hit "delete" instead of "undo" in my accounting program and created a huge discrepancy in my bookkeeping. At least I think that is what I did, but the more I tried to fix the error the worse the discrepancy became. I am usually like a dog with a bone with my bookkeeping, unwilling to stop until I find the mistake and have all the pretty numbers agree with each other. This can be quite a feat since I am not the best
with details and numbers but I find the hunt strangely satisfying, like finding the solution to a puzzle.
Not this time. This time I was frustrated and defeated. So after enough hours of struggling I hit the adjustment
button and - poof - everything is balanced. Bookkeepers don't come after me, I know this is not the best thing or something I want to do often, but that little button is there for a reason and today was the day I needed it.
It is really ok to leave the mistake behind unresolved and unfinished sometimes.Sometimes you can stop trying to fix what went wrong and move forward with the grace of a fresh start.
3.
Sinéad O'Connor (Shuhada' Sadaqat) has died. She spoke truth to power and the world shunned her. She kept speaking truth. We on the other hand persecuted rather than listened. Punished rather than learned. Turned away rather than be with the discomfort of the pain and injustice she
refused to turn away from and insisted on showing.
The art in the pain and the pain in art can save us, but we need to let it. Trauma and mental illness deserves our empathy and care. Her art lives
and may her spirit rest in peace.
4.
I am reading Rest is Resistance, A Manifesto by Trisha Hersey of The Nap Ministry. We don't need more productivity or life hacks or ways to maximize our potential. We need more rest.
Rest is holy, it is liberating, it is radical in this world where capitalism and the still weeping scars of colonialism and white supremacy gaslights us to believe we are only worthy if we can produce. For the economy, for a boss, for our belonging. We do not earn our right to exist through our exhaustion. We do not
earn joy through working more. We soften into the glories of this world and ourselves through rest and dreaming and freeing ourselves.
The page before the Preface reads "I hope you are reading this while laying down!"
Yes, ma'am, I think I will.
5.
A blessing for your
week:
(from I am a Queen oracle cards by Outi Harma)
May all of your emotions find space to be, even the unfelt ones.
Well, here she is
again this week, The Queen of Unfelt Emotions. I always go with the oracle that presents itself, even if it is a repeated card or one that seems challenging or somehow not "positive". I trust they have something to say and even more so when the same oracle repeats itself. This queen has more blessings to bring. Emotions always bring their own language and wisdom, even the unfelt ones. Especially the unfelt ones, they just need a bit more space and care.
