I’ve been head-down with writing this week. I completed a first draft of a short story and edited an essay I wrote a while ago. Two pieces of work that are out of the drafts and ready for me to pitch. Success. I also found myself in a false spring bubble over the weekend. If I squinted my eyes hard enough through the slice of blue sky and mild temperatures it basically looked like summer. I felt myself defrosting.
I finished reading The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters and I was hoping for more redemption for the main characters at the end. Trying not to give much away or ruin with spoilers, but I wanted to finish the book feeling a sense of justice and I didn’t. Onto non-fiction. I picked up my copy of A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, my physical book in a while. At times I’ve found it quite dense, but overall it’s such an interesting read. If we can separate our ego from how we interact with the world and others, we can become fully conscious in the present. The art of simply letting things be as they are.
I also finally finished Hera by Jennifer Saint. but as sometimes happens with audiobooks, I struggled to really get sucked in. It was still an enjoyable listen and you know I’m a big fan of retellings of Greek myths from a female perspective. It probably does deserve a re-listen with my full attention at some point though, maybe in the summer. I bought some new audiobooks and started The Last Witch of Scotland Philip Paris. It’s tickling my brain. Through the soft Scottish narration from Samara MacLaren and Steven Cree, all I can picture is the Disney film Brave. Very welcomed visuals in my mind.
Without a doubt, one of my favourite Substacks to read at the moment is
and I urge you to take a look:I went on vacation with my fuck buddy
Sexual desire in midlife
Other reads:
America prioritises grants, loans, and contracts to communities with “marriage and birth rates higher than the national average”
Bridget Jones made me excited about middle-age
Universal Music Group launches mental health fund
Praise for false spring
I quit background noise
Art is the only way to express love
I’m stockpiling episodes of Yellowjackets now that season three has started airing. There are few boxsets I’ve watched and been unable to prise myself away, making a promise this is the last episode I’ll watch before going to bed and risking lack of sleep because it’s too good to switch off. Yellowjackets is one of them. I want to recreate that so I’m resisting giving it a watch for as long as I can.
Even now, with a 30th birthday to plan for later in the year, I will admit that I love children’s films and TV. I mean, I’ve already mentioned Disney in this newsletter. Wallace and Gromit are a part of the collective consciousness of kids’ TV in Britain and last Christmas, they made all our dreams come true by returning to our screens with a brand new film. I distinctly remember watching A Grand Day Out at my granny’s house as a child and wanting to eat the cheese from the moon SO badly. The older I get, the more nods to adults I see hidden away in plain sight in kids' films, something that got many laughs from me (and the rest of us) watching Vengeance Most Fowl. This week, I saw videos of Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw attending the BAFTAs and it’s the sweetest thing ever. Long live stop-motion and the nation’s love for Wallace and Gromit.
The human need and desire for adventure has led to expeditions, space races and ventures into the deepest part of the ocean. There is always more to discover right here on Earth. Last year, a load of discoveries were made among plant and fungus species. There is so much awe to be found in our everyday world. I think I’ve shared before but Lucy Jones’ experiences with slime molds is an incredible read to make you feel grounded and remind you of nature’s abundance.
I trod in dog shit yesterday and it took all my restraint not to shout out “Why, god, why ME?” I remained mostly calm. Thank you, Eckhart Tolle. But if I wasn’t now enlightened I might say that I will never be able to look at my trainers in the same way again. People who knowingly leave their dog’s shit without picking it up must be the same people who leave skids in the toilet bowl with pride. How would you like it if you trod in my poo? Exactly. So, yeah, I’d probably say something like that.
Rounding off with a short poem from Emily Dickinson, whose wisdom marries in nicely with Eckhart Tolle’s. “In this short Life / that only lasts an hour / How much - how little - is / within our power”
