Still waters run deep(ish)...
Hello you lightning in a bottle.
It was but mere a few weeks ago when I felt like all I could do in this newsletter (and life) was wax poetic about the majesty of the sun, the leaves bursting forth with all their electric green awesomeness, the infinite potential packed into every small blossom, and generally getting existentially drunk on the wonderful spring-y-ness of it all.
Well I might have overdone it... That early spring mania seems to have melted into a breathy pool of late spring exhaustion. This week, I feel like I have crashed to the verdant earth just a little bit. Maybe it is my self buckling under the weight of the many enthusiastic irons I have stuck in the fire of life this spring. Maybe it is because I might have underestimated the space I might have needed to process the emotional transition of leaving the Refugee Hub after two personally-significant years working there. Maybe it is because our 'spring weather' temperatures in May and June still feel like it is late winter.
Whatever the cause(s), I find myself needing to dial life back a bit right now, take a breath, and let life sit and settle around me. I find it is not enough to be quiet right now. I feel the desire to be still. Or still-er anyway. To find spaces in the day to minimize my inputs, my outputs, my transactions with the world. And maybe others are feeling the same.
So instead of sending you a collection of links to click and stories to read this week, I thought I would send a simple invitation to all of you this Sunday morning to take five minutes and do the following:
Find a comfortable position, seated or lying down
Take five deeeeeeep luxurious belly breaths, in through the nose out through the mouth
Sit peacefully in the space and stillness you have created
Repeat as desired
Seriously, friends. Try it. I have found that punctuating my days with this small gesture has helped me disconnect from the world just enough to stay connected with myself. And that feels gooooooooood.
But wait! Is all this talk of stillness (and the lack of links) a bit too minimalist for you this week? Then please enjoy this beautiful twitter thread documenting the last day on the job for a beloved mail carrier, and the touching send-off from the community he served for decades. No, YOU'RE crying.
Still too much realness? Then check out this monkey checking themselves out on instagram.
From one pause-seeking person to another, I am glad that we can take a breath together. I hope you enjoyed this dispatch, and have a space-filled week!
Until next Sunday,
The Earnest Platypus