You receive this as I am somewhere on a snow-capped mountain, likely falling arse over tit, trying to get better at skiing. It’s only my second time and like most new things, I approach with caution and perhaps even a little reluctance. That’s not to say I’m not enjoying myself, it’s just the fear of failure clouding the bigger picture. A good opportunity for me to be kinder to myself and revel in the small wins.
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle might have changed my life. Detaching yourself from your ego and not letting fleeting thoughts define you sounds like a wonderful way to live. I am someone who often needs to get out of their own head and so Tolle’s approach to finding ways of becoming your conscious self was very appealing to me. I told you last week that Samara MacLaren and Steven Cree’s narration of The Last Witch of Scotland by Philip Paris tickled my brain with their soft Scottish accents. I’m still making my way through the audiobook, although I’ve had a little break while on holiday. The book is inspired by the true story of the last execution for witchcraft in Britain, with a reimagining of the events that led to it. It’s proving to be a winner for me. I’ve now picked up Another Marvellous Thing by Laurie Colwin. I’m only a few pages in but I’m hooked. Her writing is so sharp. I enjoy complex characters who are flawed but loveable in their own ways. Francis and Billy’s affair presents the right opportunity. Can’t wait to devour the rest.
Other links for you:
Stop sitting in the waiting room of your life
Two men were switched at birth to families of different ethnicities re-read this and it’s such a nuanced yet fascinating scenario concerning identity. If you were hooked by ITV’s Playing Nice then you’ll lose your mind over this.
How do we decide that someone is “ugly”? (ironically a huge YSL advert was plastered in the middle of the page, breaking up this piece on rejecting beauty standards. Lol?)
Why does holding a grudge feel so good?
Living the wrong life
Why don’t we talk about eating disorders and pregnancy?
On the loss of youth
The unrealistic depictions of female romcom leads as journalists
Holiday blues can easily be cured by distraction. Mine shall come in the form of catching up with copious amounts of TV that I’ve missed while being away. Dragon’s Den, The Apprentice, Severance, and not forgetting Married At First Sight Australia is back on in the UK this evening.
We’re taking a blast from further back in the past today. Much before my time. I saw (I can’t remember where by probably Instagram lol) letters that Philip Larkin sent to his mother in February 1952.
“Do not worry about the past: it is, after all, past, and fades daily in our memory & in the memories of everyone else. Further, it can’t touch the future unless we let it. Every day comes to us like a newly cellophaned present, a chance for an entirely fresh start… We are silly if we do not amble easily in the sun while we can, before time elbows us into everlasting night & frost.”
I studied The Whitsun Weddings anthology in English Literature and loved it. I was always quite resistant towards the idea of set texts and being forced into reading certain things. Eventually, after studying them in so much detail I’d relent and become attached. Critiques of Philip Larkin mostly claimed him a cynic which I always found bizarre as his poetry to me carried so much sentiment and tenderness.
The mountain views in Alpe D’Huez have been incredible. We were blessed with fresh snow the day before we arrived and I have savoured every moment of sitting in the sun on a deck chair eating chips and drinking peach ice tea in the sunshine. Back down to earth with a bang tomorrow.
I’ll take any excuse to decry the behaviour of the general public at airports. I live in my own microcosm of East London. I forget how people act outside of it and rarely do I find myself in a scenarios with people from far reaching corners of the nation and beyond. The general gist of my disdain is angled towards people who lose all common sense and appear as though theyve never even been outside their house before. Last year I walked past a woman sitting on the floor chomping on a reduced M&S beef and black bean ready meal with a cardboard fork. There was no M&S Food store in the airport. It doesn’t need to be like this! By all means, make a sandwich to bring with you - airport prices are unhinged. But you just can’t go around eating unheated ready meals while trapped with others in a crowded enclosed space. You can’t.
Last week I went to see the At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World exhibition at the Victoria Miro Gallery. Alice Neel is incredible painter, who’ve I’ve learnt a lot about thanks to Katy Hessel’s Great Women Artists. What struck me most from the collection was how comfortable and at ease every sitter or subject looked on the canvas. I was met with the confident gazes of others, breaking the fourth wall to lock eyes with me. Among the artworks was Frank O’Hara, No. 2, painted in1960. I followed up with some of his poetry after. The following is the final stanza from his poem Steps, which celebrates life and all its joyous imperfections.
oh god it's wonderful
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much
