The world is full of pain, and pain is hypnotic when it’s fed to us morsel by morsel. Those of us who live with residual trauma are vulnerable to spiraling until everything feels threatening. Even ourselves. I’m writing an essay about this right now.— you’ll be able to read it next week.
I am learning to move towards joy instead of reveling in familiar catastrophizing. I’m learning that taking on the world’s pain is at best counterproductive and at worst paralyzing.
So I’ve started looking for things that help me feel hopeful and happy and more flexible and less reactive.
For the past several mornings I’ve listened to the Encanto soundtrack. If you haven’t seen Encanto, it’s a film about the Madrigals, a magical Colombian family. It’s also about intergenerational trauma. And accepting yourself as you are. The film got mixed reviews, but the soundtrack is joyous and hopeful and sad and wonderful. It’s been giving me so much joy.
I’ve also stopped consuming news so often— limiting myself to checking news sites two times a week and staying away from social media.
Over the past month, the wildflowers I planted have started blooming. Every day I check on them and say hello to all the new blooms. This is very pleasing.
I’m finding immense joy in reading John Keats’s and Joy Harjo’s poetry out loud every morning and evening. I’d love to add more poets to my list.
So tell me: what’s been giving you joy?
What do you turn towards when you need to feel good about yourself and the world? I’d love to know. This thread is for all subscribers, so please share it far and wide. And have a wonderful day, wherever you are. <3
Love this, River. 🧡 I’m also enjoying a short stroll to check on seeds I started a few months ago — tomatoes and cucumbers; marigolds and zinnias; a wildflower patch; and a big row of stock flowers for their spicy sweet bouquets. I do feel like everyone is greeting me and showing me how much they’ve grown. To add a little spark of joy I recently added a wind chime to sing to my plants (and me). 💐 🪴 ☀️
I've been feeling very down on social media (esp Instagram) and how it doesn't seem to allow for genuine conversation anymore, and then i realised I've not been initiating conversations either. So i said this, and invited responses, and ended up getting some lovely replies and decided not to delete my account for a while.
Things are rough. Let's see. I let my niece paint my nails black with a glitter overlay for her 8th birthday. It's chipping off but it's been fun! A good friend gifted me a pair of her earrings that I LOVE when I forgot to put a pair on for an overnight trip we took together. A pair of tree swallows seem to have claimed the nesting box. And I just took a short walk with my sister, who's recovering from surgery, and ran into a couple she knows and we all ended up nerding out over 90s grunge music. That was nice!
Well, now that you ask . . . When I listened to Tami Simon interview David Whyte a few days ago. you came immediately to mind but thought your attention might be booked up with Keats. Maria Popova often features David Whyte, in her posts . . .
Love this, River. 🧡 I’m also enjoying a short stroll to check on seeds I started a few months ago — tomatoes and cucumbers; marigolds and zinnias; a wildflower patch; and a big row of stock flowers for their spicy sweet bouquets. I do feel like everyone is greeting me and showing me how much they’ve grown. To add a little spark of joy I recently added a wind chime to sing to my plants (and me). 💐 🪴 ☀️
I've been feeling very down on social media (esp Instagram) and how it doesn't seem to allow for genuine conversation anymore, and then i realised I've not been initiating conversations either. So i said this, and invited responses, and ended up getting some lovely replies and decided not to delete my account for a while.
I like Encanto. "Surface Pressure" speaks to me!
Things are rough. Let's see. I let my niece paint my nails black with a glitter overlay for her 8th birthday. It's chipping off but it's been fun! A good friend gifted me a pair of her earrings that I LOVE when I forgot to put a pair on for an overnight trip we took together. A pair of tree swallows seem to have claimed the nesting box. And I just took a short walk with my sister, who's recovering from surgery, and ran into a couple she knows and we all ended up nerding out over 90s grunge music. That was nice!
Forgot to include the link
https://resources.soundstrue.com/podcast/david-whyte-everything-is-an-invitation/?utm_klaviyo_id=HYSrYw&tw_source=Klaviyo&_kx=gcWBxc--QU8vUfZwbBHeNQ3k0lOY8Nmi2cn2_xh8VwA.JMDgaq
Well, now that you ask . . . When I listened to Tami Simon interview David Whyte a few days ago. you came immediately to mind but thought your attention might be booked up with Keats. Maria Popova often features David Whyte, in her posts . . .