Hello and happy (almost) March!
Welcome to the second installment of my lil newsletter, y’all! Thanks for being here.
So, we’re approaching the one-year mark of COVID-19 lockdowns in the U.S., and I’ve really been sitting with the weight of that. One year of this collective *gestures wildly* mess feels both unfathomable and apt. On one hand, how is it that the wealthiest country in the world has handled the pandemic so incredibly poorly? And yet, on the other hand, of course it has. A nation so deeply committed to prioritizing individual success and its own image was never prepared to support the collective care of all its people. I wrote about this last summer on my personal blog; it was kind of comforting to reread my own words and still feel so aligned with them. Yay Past Me!
OK, let’s talk readings.
A beautifully-written meditation on our current collective grief
Poems! We all should read more of them. Check out these two.
“I’m not a perfectionist,” [Megan] claims. “But I like what I like how I like it.” Megan Thee Stallion, a kindred spirit, for Harper’s Bazaar.
Lest we forget, Texas was gutted a couple weeks ago by a horrible winter storm. These articles from the Texas Tribune and the Texas Observer do an excellent job explaining what happened, why it happened, and how it impacted everyday Texas residents.
Also, because I’m a creature of comfort, I’ve been going through old interviews of one of my favorite thinkers, Jenny Odell. She writes about the attention economy, how to do nothing (or, how to do something that matters), and reveling in nature. I think she’s wonderful. Here’s an interview from 2019 and a podcast from last year featuring her.
Wishing you all a lovely week! As always, if you feel so compelled, share this newsletter with a loved one.
Oh, and here’s live footage of me leaving Black History Month and entering Women’s History Month 😎
Be blessed, beautiful people!