February 11

Listening to birdsong is one of the most delightful and calming things I can think of. Until their joyful chatter returns to my yard in abundance, I am happy to have discovered tree fm which is kind of magic. It is especially lovely to listen to while soaking in the tub…

Speaking of birds ornithologist Drew Lanham’s words in his recent On Being conversation really resonated with me:

“In that moment of that little brown bird that’s always so inquisitive, that sings reliably — in that moment that I’m thinking about that wren, I’m not thinking about anything else. That’s joy. And so sometimes I think we have to recognize the joy that the world didn’t give us and that the world can’t take away, in the midst of the world taking away what it can.”

I added his book The Home Place to my reading list. Listen to him read a short excerpt here:

I read Sally Rooney’s wonderful book Normal People cover to cover one Saturday a few weeks ago and am still thinking about it. There is also a 12 part series on Hulu which was exquisitely done…

I am a consummate list-maker of all things and these free downloads from Appointed make me happy…

I have been back in the studio teaching which also means I’ve been getting to play and work on my own Pilates practice which is one of the most joyful things I get to do…

This gorgeous painting below is not a two-dimensional scene but a real person painted by the artist Alexa Meade. It’s worth listening to her short TED talk if you need motivation to step off your current path but feel too invested to make a change. She graduated with a political science degree and a dream to work in government only to be moved by a curiosity that compelled her to return home to her parents’ basement where she taught herself how to paint by painting the shadows on the ground, on her face, on her food…

Along similar lines, Seth Godin’s recent blog post struck a chord especially after living and working through this year of the “pivot.”

“Is ‘nimble’ a good thing? Should we seek to be flexible, resilient and quick to be able to shift and adapt?

Because often, it seems as though we work to create an environment where it’s difficult indeed to be nimble. We buy expensive assets, lock into long-term systems and fail to ignore sunk costs. We set foundations in concrete instead of using a lightweight tent…”

It’s hard to choose a favorite time of year in my garden, but when new green shoots start to emerge from the dirt it always feels like a miracle and I’m surprised every time it happens. These chives are making a go of it…

And the quote I’m taking to heart these days…

“You don’t always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that’s enough.”

— Alice Walker

December 11

Hello December once again. The sun rose this morning at 7:48 and the sun will set very soon at 4:19. One of my favorite moments of the day is when I wake up around 6:30, take a shower, and then turn on the Christmas tree lights and sit quietly reading in this spot before the rest of my family gets up…

My favorite ornament is this stick of butter (that was on my wishlist last year) that my bestie gave me just this fall in anticipation of the coming season…

As per usual, the “Vince Guaraldi Trio Holiday” station plays nearly every waking hour. This weekend I am making orange and clove pomanders for the first time…

Photo via Gardenista

I still need to figure out what holiday cookies I’d like to bake this year but these brown butter and pistachio sablés from Bon Appetit are on the short list…

We repainted our dining room dark last week (Benjamin Moore City Shadow) and I am smitten with how it turned out…

I’ve been lighting candles nonstop, mostly ivory pillars in simple glass hurricanes. I needed a few more and have been using these Weck jars which are inexpensive and still look lovely…

We just finished this really fun Lego Minifigure puzzle…

I’ve been eating a lot of Ramen lately and this Jade Pearl one is delicious. I cook it for 4 minutes, drain off most of the water, add the seasoning and doctor it up with toasted sesame oil and my favorite kimchi hot sauce. If I have leftover steamed broccoli in the fridge, I’ll throw that in too for a really satisfying lunch (or breakfast)…

Speaking of broccoli, I just harvested the first ever head of broccoli from my garden last week. I can’t wait to plant more in the spring…

Today marks the 24th day of my daily Pilates practice. It has been transformative. I have never had a daily practice in all my years doing Pilates and it feels different in the way that I am approaching it. I am paying deep attention to what my body needs on any given day. There is no judgment, just curiosity and I am enjoying the journey…

Way back in high school (in the analog 1990s) one of my favorite things was getting a brand new planner for the new year. I will forever be a paper and pen kind of person and looking forward to a new planner never gets old. This Moleskine one is my favorite…

1% Better Each Day

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.

It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

- Melody Beattie

With the latest business restrictions I had to close my studio again last week. Last spring during lockdown I created Pilates Everyday to post videos for my clients. But once I was able to reopen again in June, my plate felt full and I stopped posting. And my own Pilates practice became neglected.

This time around I decided to use this extra time afforded to me to reinvigorate a daily practice and have been doing at least a basic Pilates mat workout every day and live streaming for anyone who wants to join in. I am not doing any instruction or have any set routine planned – I’m just committed to moving every day and will see where the workout takes me…

At one week in, it’s noticeable how much better and stronger I feel and I’m enjoying myself immensely. It feels good to embody what I’m constantly espousing - that small efforts done repetitively every day lead to big change. When done intentionally, even a 7 minute workout is effective as proven in my workout on day three…

If you'd like to work on your own daily Pilates practice but don't know where to begin, start here: 

I am not at all surprised at the benefits I’m noticing already from having a daily personal practice. But what I didn’t expect is what posting my workout LIVE would deliver: the incredible feeling of being truly accountable to myself. I am accountable to many others - my son, my husband, my friends, my clients…but I can’t recall a time when I showed up only for myself, every single day…

I will leave you with the inspiring Chris Nikic who exemplifies what can happen when you focus on making small improvements and striving to get 1% better each day…

Zack Wittman for The New York Times

“To Chris, this race was more than just a finish line and celebration of victory,” his dad told the BBC. “Ironman has served as his platform to become one step closer to his goal of living a life of inclusion, normalcy, and leadership.”

May we all be inspired by Chris and continue to do the work and strive to be our best selves.

Learning Comes from Doing

As most of us are now weeks into being locked down at home, I’ve been thinking a lot about learning and doing. In her On Being conversation, the poet Marie Howe said - “When you’re very sad, the only thing to do is to go learn something.”

I think learning something is especially important not just in sadness, but during times of uncertainty and upheaval.

The photo above was taken the month before the current stay at home order. Our backyard studio (i.e. my husband’s new workspace) was nearing completion. We had no idea then that this would soon be shared creative space!

As work has now stopped for both of us, we are collectively planning and strategizing about moving forward. We are finding “strength in the places we’d never thought to develop, spaces we didn’t know we’d occupy, room to reach beyond ourselves,” and are focusing our energy into learning how to do new things.

My husband is learning how to use his shiny new power tools by building things. He built shop tables for the studio…

And this beautiful Donald Judd inspired chair out of leftover wood from the studio construction…

@aaronleitz

I’m learning how to do Pilates videos for my clients. The challenge for me is not in the logistics of the curriculum, but in getting over my fear of the camera and finding my voice so that it actually sounds like me and how I teach in person.

Accepting that I’m not going to be an expert right out of the gate is something I’ve always struggled with.

I have to walk my talk and “Respect the Process” (which is the mantra I continually espouse) and even put on the Pilates Everyday “about” page:

“Prioritize repetition over perfection. It isn’t going to be good right out the gate. Don’t worry, just keep at it and do your best. Through repetition and deliberate practice it will start to come together. Just move. Pay attention. Don’t rush. Enjoy yourself. Repeat. Respect the process.”

Creating videos and expanding my practice online had always been on my mind but seemed like a far off consideration in the context of my normal life/work routine. I felt like I didn’t have any extra space or energy to devote to it.

Our friend Alison Pickart posted this quote last week which I printed out and put on my fridge…

“The amazing thing about human nature is that people find themselves gravitating toward things that they innately know how to do. For some very lucky ones, they will discover a passion that now has the time to be realized, which may inadvertently become a new life’s work. Great things come out of crisis, often because they have to.”

— Alison Pickart

Seth Godin nails this idea (and also accurately conveys the level of work required) in his blog post But what could you learn instead? .

“Learning takes effort, and it’s hard to find the effort when the world is in flux, when we’re feeling uncertain and when we’re being inundated with bad news. But that’s the moment when learning is more important than ever…This shift is difficult to commit to, because unlike education, learning demands change. Learning makes us incompetent just before it enables us to grasp mastery. Learning opens our eyes and changes the way we see, communicate and act.

It’s way easier to get someone to watch–a YouTube comic, a Netflix show, a movie–than it is to encourage them to do something. But it’s the doing that allows us to become our best selves, and it’s the doing that creates our future.”

Read Seth’s entire post here.

Learning something doesn’t always have to be a BIG thing. There is so much joy to be found in the process of learning small day to day things.

My fridge looks a lot different these days than it did in January…

I have pretty good chops in the kitchen but I am learning new ways to make use of what we have in the pantry and freezer, substituting ingredients, using recipes as inspiration rather than rigid instructions and trusting my instincts. Forced to simplify, this time has unlocked a new culinary creativity.

I am starting seeds inside, something I have never done before…

The sewing machine is out and being put to use making masks: the perfect project to hone my sewing skills acquired last spring at Drygoods Design’s beginner sewing series.

Repetition is the mother of all learning - Repetitio mater studiorum est.

All this learning of new THINGS is really learning a new way to BE. Attentive. Deliberate. Comfortable with discomfort. Intentional. Grateful.

Apart But Not Alone

What a time we are in.

It’s hard to articulate so instead of fumbling for the words I will give you this from the ever-wise Brené Brown…

This is truly a both/and moment: both frightening and formative. Both uncertain and hopeful. And despite the legitimate troubles for so many unsure when they’ll be able to work and earn a paycheck, there is still so much goodness if you look for it.

We watched the Seattle Symphony livestream Mahler Symphony No. 1 all together curled up in bed last weekend. Metropolitan Opera has nightly free streams for the duration of the Met’s closure. I have never seen an opera before and I’m so thrilled for the opportunity to see some of the best…

Yo-Yo Ma is playing music for us…

So is Ben Gibbard, live every day at 4pm for the next two weeks…

Donald Robertson is giving these fantastic quick art classes…

Ryan Holiday wrote a great post on the Daily Stoic a few days ago Remember: You Don’t Control What Happens, You Control How You Respond.

“The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.

Use your time wisely: don’t let the possible weeks or months of isolation be for nothing. You can’t control how long you’ll need to engage in social distancing, but you can control if you spend that time productively. The version of you who steps out of quarantine at some future date can be better than the version that entered it, if you try.”

Experiencing hardship has the power to nudge us and give us “strength in the places we’d never thought to develop, spaces we didn’t know we’d occupy, room to reach beyond ourselves.”

I can’t work from home teaching my clients like I’ve always done. But I am finding a new way to be useful and share what I know.

“We think the future is something that happens, rather than something we make.”

— Ryan Holiday

I started a YouTube channel Pilates Everyday. The first video is a 5 minute basic Pilates mat that my clients are to do everyday. If you have never done Pilates before, start there and keep it simple: Prioritize repetition over perfection. It isn’t going to be good right out the gate. Don’t worry, just keep at it and do your best. Through repetition and deliberate practice it will start to come together. Just move. Pay attention. Don’t rush. Enjoy yourself. Repeat.

Take care of yourselves. Practice self-discipline. Be kind. Look for the good.