Personally I like to be at least 5 years behind a trend, which is why I’m starting a newsletter now when everyone already has one and they’re a bit overrated. In 2020 after the pandemic became a thing, I stopped writing. I let my blog go and I stopped writing altogether. I didn’t want to talk about the pandemic but it felt wrong not to and suddenly it felt as though I had nothing to say.
In hindsight the truth is I had been blogging since 2010 for my very loyal 25 fans and it just wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I tried new things- a brief dabble in watercolors (relaxing but I confirmed my lack of talent), a series of pottery classes (highly recommend) and an embroidery challenge (in retrospect committing to 365 days of embroidery was a bit much). All of which was wonderful but did not challenge me or fill me in the ways that writing does. This little newsletter is a way back into writing, and back into myself.
My word for 2023 is rhythm, referring to the rhythms of my family life, the rhythms and seasons of nature as well as my internal rhythms- my personal drum beat. I hope to relax and feel more secure in the season our family is in (temper tantrums and magical realism aplenty), listen more to the clues nature provides (such as slowing down in winter) and feel freer to let my true self shine.
In 2023 I will seek out more music and dancing. More travel, far away and close by. Spend more time writing and less time watching TV (I say as I watch The Witcher). More time cooking meals and less time snacking Cheetos.
I hope you’ll meet me back here, twice a month, to share in this adventure and tell me a bit about your own!
In the meantime I’ll be …
Watching: I finished it a bit ago, but still think of it often- The Girls at the Back (Las de la última fila) is a limited series on Netflix in Spanish that follows 5 friends vacationing together before one starts chemotherapy. It is bursting with dark humor and the kind of conversations that can only happen between the best of female friends. It immediately sucked me in.
Listening: Recently I came across this playlist for Indigenous People’s Day (DEI nerd alert) and while I love many of the songs on it, I’m completely obsessed with Wasted by William Prince. I often have it on repeat.
Learning: At work I’ve been asked to challenge our leadership more frequently and directly to take on certain changes. This sort of confrontation puts me well outside my comfort zone but I’m learning to walk the line between bold and abrasive and challenge myself as I challenge others.
Parenting: The farther we get into this parenting game, which isn’t very far, the less I seem to know. We go from one phase to the next, learning only after each moment has passed and we regain our sanity, our breath. (If you can relate check out Kate Baer’s Why I Don’t Write During Naptime.)
No matter what though every Saturday and Sunday starts with a morning adventure. It might just be a playground stop but more frequently it’s a trip to the beach, a walk in the nature preserve, or collecting shark teeth on the river’s edge. Last weekend the boys helped us gather oysters and tried their first raw ones. #proudparent
BE STILL MY HEART! I'm so excited your newsletter era has arrived!!!