April showers bring relief to these overcooked humans

Hi lovelies I think I perhaps missed a week of the ever fun-fun writing of my weekly recommendations for being a human trying to exist in the world catching glimmers and making space for ourselves in the small, sweet ways. As you may notice the look of the site changed a little bit. I updated my Squarespace to their new (oh I don’t know the word) edition? software? site blueprint? who knows but anyways it made everything higgledy piggledy looking and I have spent the better part of many days trying to make it look good and be readable and still maintain my overall ‘aesthetic’ (VOMIT at myself using that used and abused on-trend word).

Let me know what you think! Do you like this yummy sage-y, olive-y earth tone-y look? Is it annoying to read cream lettering? I kind of like it, it makes me feel a softness in my mind’s eye. However, I really want this to be a collaborative project so I am happy to always hear feedback.

April is ending! My oh my it’s been a MONTH. Although isn’t every month ‘a month’ to be honest. Adulting seems to be endlessly saying over and over “I just have to get through this day, week, month, season and then things will finally calm down.” Yet, they never do :D Perhaps things don’t change but I am trying to appreciate how we change, and rise up, to meet the ongoing challenges of life. Anyways read on ahead dear ones to see what things have been catching my eye these past two weeks.

READS

Ok for some reason I have chosen to read the most painfully laborious book ever and yet, I don’t want to quit it. I don’t know why it’s one of those reads where I think just a couple more pages THEN surely I will see why it’s one of BBC’s 100 Books to Read Before You Die. GAH probably that’s why I am determined to finish it. We shall see what happens.

So in the spirit of avoiding reading this snoozefest of a book that I have to return to the library in four days, here are a few short pieces I have enjoyed recently.

• I had to share this delightful little midweek pick-me-up piece from my forever favourite.
  Your Body Is a Space That Sees: Artist Lia Halloran’s Stunning Cyanotype Tribute to Women in Astronomy by Maria Popova, The Marginalian.
  I really appreciate that these essays written by Popova always seem to pull at a few different strings of my own personal interests. She usually hits it off with little bit of art to look at and feel deep feelings, a wiggle of music, a pizzazz of brilliantly worded writing reflecting on consciousness or technology, maybe some extra links sprinkled in of YouTube videos that address the psychology of being or scienceand bam she has a lovely, unique, readable piece. It’s all very cohesive and holistic and intersection-y. I find a lot of inspiration there. OB-viously I am not as erudite in my wordsmithery.

• Of course I would be remiss as to mention that Taylor Swift’s new album-The Tortured Poets Department is out this week. It’s a significant moment and I would be interested in really doing a deep dive into this particular release maybe the good, bad and ugly. One might wonder if the Swift bubble is moving towards and inevitable pop? Whatever your feelings on her this was a nice little Vox piece that brings up the question of whether we can criticize something or someone and have it be personally-or politically-neutral? Or have we so flattened culture that we can’t even begin a discourse on standard and expectation without other people feeling provoked and defensive?
  It’s impossible to be neutral about Taylor Swift by Alex Abad-Santos, Vox

• Ok ok I will share one more read here because honestly the content be out here CONTINENTANING! heh heh Seriously though, there is an ocean of things to read online and not nearly enough time to read it all. Whatever your personal opinions are about alcohol and drinking culture, this article is a striking read for it’s conversation around the efficacy of replacing alcohol with other mind altering substances as a means of social stimulation, personal relaxation and pleasure.
  The endless quest to replace alcohol by Rebecca Jennings, Vox

BANTS

“Discomfort is not always the same thing as disease.”

— Alexandra Sacks

Now that I am a mother type being (my child is 9 months old when do I actually feel like a parent?) I have to, of course, bring everything in my conversation and dynamic with others back to the central focus of my life-parenting. Even as I feel their eyes roll back into their heads with boredom and that feral energy of one who will gnaw their leg off to free themselves from the trap of social convention wafts from their sweaty body, I can’t help but show them 10,000 shaky videos of my baby almost standing or picking up a cheerio. As I corner them with my phone shoved in their face I tearfully wail about her “being a big girl now” and internally all I can wonder is who is this feeling mess I have become? Feels like it is a right of passage or something. This concept of ‘Matrescence’ being a form of physiological and psychological change similar to that of adolescence is one that feels rooted in truth for what I have felt within myself. The short TED video below acknowledges this great shift within that occurs in motherhood and honours the nuance of figuring out how to reconcile oneself to a new lived reality.

A new way to think about the transition to motherhood

EATS

Unfortunately I do not have any good recipes to share with you this week. I have not cooked much recently as I have been working a lot and running a fair bit. Groceries are reaching peak prices where I am buying as little as possible in order to make do. Mostly I spend my money on food for my child and that’s what I usually am cooking when I get a chance. Watch this space though and hopefully I will have some scrummy fun things to share next week.

I find I really struggle with time management these days. My little shark tooth bebe requires a lot of watching as she super speed crawls around my house. If any of you have any tips or tricks for 1.) combating overwhelm with tasks and 2.) actually getting the shit you enjoy doing done then please pass them along down below. Ta ta for now!