Hello Friends,
I’m in California visiting family. It’s always wild to come back. I only lived here for about ten years or so, but it was so incredibly formative in my life. It’s not quite home, but not quite not a version of some sort of home. I’ve written about this before.
What counts as home anyway? It’s a layered and complicated questions. But as many a fridge magnet has said — home is where the dog is.
Someone asked a question recently that I didn’t have a chance to answer - how do I handle leaving Olive when I travel? The answer is: I handle it quite poorly. I engage in prolonged good-byes with detailed descriptions about where we are going and how long we will be gone. (Yes, dogs have a sense of time.) I apologize a lot. I keep my shit together mostly so I don’t upset her, then I get in the car and sob.
But Olive does just fine while I’m away, because we have fantastic folks who love and care for her, and she is grateful to finally have the time to work on her band.
More things for you:
In case you missed it
Last week, I created a video newsletter for paid subscribers in which I answered some reader questions. I’m offering it to all subscribers, in case anyone is desperate to know about the best brand of sriracha mayo or the 90s movies that rejected me.
(If you’re getting the free version of this newsletter, and you’d like to upgrade because you want a letter every Friday, it’s just $5 a month and I’m super grateful for the support and reciprocity.)
What I’ve been loving
Life can be hard and as it turn out, other people are not mind readers. Liz Gilbert shares her practice of writing the things you wish someone else would say to you. It might feel cheesy, but it’s a simple thing that has come to my rescue a few times lately.
What I watched
Despite some deeply questionable hair styling choices, BlackBerry was was worth watching. Not brilliant filmmaking, but I enjoyed learning about the back story and the early tech involved in combining phones and email. (Still undecided about whether that was a good thing or not.) And the Canadian accents made me happy.
A thing I did for you
Earlier this week, I made a couple of the Blue Mala Member guided meditation videos free because I love you and apparently, YouTube videos are my Love Language.
And finally
Since I’m on this coast, we’re attempting to pull together something that we tried to do last year, but were thwarted by the SAG strike. No promises, because you know, life. But here’s a not so subtle hint:
Thank you for reading, friends. I’m grateful that you are here.
Much love,
~Lisa