Hello there. It has been a while.
Like many others, I have spent the last several months contemplating all the things, and thinking about the shape of my life. My home and family life, my work. Asking the question, is this how I want my life to look? And if not, how can I reimagine it so it does? I love this Daily Stoic from a few month’s back on how much of what we do and say is not essential.
“There has never been a better time to go through your life and ask yourself about all the things you do and say and think, “Is this necessary?” “Is this essential?” “Why am I doing this?” “What would happen if I changed?””
It’s been a wonderful exercise and it is amazing how asking those questions regularly really brings our priorities into high relief. I’ve also found the central Stoic tenet that the only thing we have control over in our lives is the way we respond to be deeply grounding and liberating, and I would argue, vital in times like these.
In addition to all this reflection, I have been using this time to get as creatively inspired and recharged as possible. I spent most of the summer working in the backyard with my husband. Pouring over all of my Piet Oudolf books and trying to follow his example. It has been a true labor of love transforming the slope between our house and the studio, which for the last decade has been overrun by weeds and blackberries…
I’m so proud of how it turned out and can’t wait to see how it looks next year when it fills in and looks more Oudolf Field-like…
Now that the yard project is done I’m largely filling my time reading, including Ryan Holiday’s newest…
Even more enjoyable than reading for myself right now is reading aloud to my son. We just finished the The Golden Compass, the first book of Philip Pullman’s triology His Dark Materials. I don’t know who is more excited each night to read together, him or me. He is a stellar reader on his own, but there is something kind of magical about being read to (and something magical in being the reader as well).
To go with all this reading, I am so grateful for my Caddis Readers which make a huge difference. They are also blue-light blockers which is something to consider since many of us are sitting in front of computer screens more than ever these days…
I’m learning how to draw using this fantastic workbook…
I’ve also noticed that I’ve been gravitating toward things that I find deeply moving and poignant. Things that remind me how beautiful it is to be alive, and be human. I’ve been listening to a lot of Max Richter. I’d really like to watch the film on his 8.5 hour work Sleep…
We finally watched Jojo Rabbit. It has been a long time since I was so touched my a movie. If you watch on HBO, make sure to watch the short “making of“ clip following the film and listen to director Taika Waititi talk about creating the film through the eyes of a ten year old boy…
The Rainer Maria Rilke line at the end of the film from his poem Go to the Limits of Your Longing was spot on.
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
We also recently re-watched Arrival which is my favorite film. The trailer in no way indicates just how beautiful and thought provoking it is.
I will part with the delightful Frog and Toad (thank you R for sending this to me months ago!)…
Frog and Toad Tentatively Go Outside After Months in Self-Quarantine
