Smultronställe, a Transformation

I started Gathering in October 2020 after deciding to take a months-long social media hiatus. First I posted little musings, and then I began writing about being away from social media. Socially Awkward was an attempt to give the newsletter a focus, but it hasn’t felt right, and now I am transforming Gathering/Socially Awkward into Smultronställe. Smultronställe is a Swedish word literally meaning “a place of wild strawberries.” An idyllic place overflowing with beauty.

For nearly two decades I’ve been a serious fan of Brain Pickings, an incredible website curated by Maria Popova. I’ve also relied on the podcast On Being, which “pursues deep thinking and moral imagination, social courage and joy, to renew inner life, outer life, and life together.” Two years ago, when I sold my book, I was planning on creating a website in the spirit of these two beautiful things— where I could forage for gorgeous and heart-infusing art, writing, people, natural phenomenon, and objects. Then I was not…