What's Working: vol 10

our monthly community sharing space

Toward the end of each month, for paid subscribers, I share what’s been working in my life as well as what I’m reading, listening to, watching, and cooking. In the comments you are warmly invited to share what’s working for you, too!

A portion of April’s paid subscriptions is going toward this fundraiser for Ralph Yarl. May his recovery be swift and easeful.

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spring has arrived in my yard

What’s Working

Laying in my bed when I’m tired. Cherishing my rest time. Not being mean to myself about my seasonal allergy fatigue (and how much less I got done last week than I hoped). Mornings without my phone. Walks without my phone. In-person friend time where no one scrolls through anything on their phone even once. Massaging my feet with magnesium cream before bed each night. Caramelized onion dip eaten with buttery crackers. Teaching the puppy fun new tricks. The organizational delight of putting together the resupply boxes for my upcoming hike. New supplements that are helping to ease my PMDD symptoms, thank goodness. Drinking my favorite tea every single morning; not saving the best things for a “special” occasion. Trying new recipes. Laying in the quiet darkness after too much screen time. Keeping the small daily promises I make to myself. (And also forgiving myself when I don’t.)

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Reading, Watching, Listening

1. I borrowed Katherine May’s new book (Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age) from the library and then almost immediately bought myself a hardcover copy instead. This is the sign that I am truly enamored with a book, when I am sticky-noting so many passages that the thought of returning it to the library leaves me feeling bereft.

2. “It’s your fucking art and no one else’s. Take care of it.” I copied down this quote from a recent newsletter by

   Jami Attenberg
   , and I can’t stop thinking about it. What do we owe to our art? And, more generally, to our dreams? I’m working on an essay about that for you right now.