(art by Cutevoid)
Hi Dear Readers,
Happy New Year! Happy 2022! I know so many of us are struggling these days— trying to survive a global pandemic and other things since, as we know, life doesn’t ever stand still. This is both welcomed and frustrating.
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time staying present—even in moments where nothing is bad or uncomfortable. I’m trying to stay present especially during difficult times. I’m trying to feel it all, and sit with it, even if my brain/body/being is telling me to flee. It’s hard work, but I believe it’s important to living wholly.
I was just out walking in the snow, trying to stay present in my body (and mind), and the snow I was walking on looked like the powder sugar my mom uses to make Russian Tea Cakes. This sweet little visualization allowed me to stay longer in the present moment. This Staying Present Thing is such a practice, and like any practice it needs consistency—not to attain perfection, but for muscle/brain memory. The more I do it, the easier it feels, the lighter I feel, the more expansive the world feels.
I hope you are able to find moments of presence, whether these moments are painful or joyful. As the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran writes, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
Allow for sorrow, allow for joy, allow for everything in between.
Enjoy this week’s Leftovers,
xL<3
Reading List 🔖
Carla Lonzi’s Self-Effacing ‘Self-Portrait’ - Ara H. Merjian
At more than 300 pages, Carla Lonzi’s absorbing and innovative Self-Portrait (1969) records her interactions with 14 different artists over the course of the 1960s. Now, for the first time, a welcome translation by Allison Grimaldi Donahue for Divided Press offers English readers the opportunity to read one of postwar Italy’s most eccentric and irreducible texts.
A Return to The Matrix Explores Binary Thinking - Juan Barquin
Since both Wachowskis have come out as transgender subsequent to the release of the original Matrix trilogy, much has been made of the trans subtext in those films. But Resurrections isn’t just another “trans film,” but specifically a nonbinary one.
Abolition Now, Utopia Forever - Cheryl Rivera
The ability to care for each other, and to know into what sorts of political action are actually needed for progress, must be grounded in the intimacy of community. It’s hard to even imagine a world without policing unless we think first about our relationships with each other.
Vaccines and Fat People - A History of Exclusion and Blame - Ragen Chastain
This was so informative, interesting, and heartbreaking to read. Vaccines themselves have often been tested on groups that excluded fat people. Then, when the resulting vaccines had less efficacy for fat patients, it was blamed on their body weight and not on the faulty research sample.
Nostalgia For Nostalgia - Alexandra Fiorentino-Swinton
But even then, data networks in the form of social media ask us to retain as much of our ephemeral web of frayed relationships as possible, in the hopes of one day being able to turn them into social, cultural, or even economic utility. I am fed connection, or at least “staying in touch,” on platforms that persuade me that the arduous upkeep of these loose ends is the key to success and happiness. But hanging on to bygone relationships has begun to feel like a substitute for personal growth.
Librarianship 🎍
Some School Librarians Fed Up With Book Bans Are Organizing and Fighting Back - Nicole Chavez, Evan McMorris-Santoro and Laura Dolan
Is Your Fave Public Librarian Feeling Blue? 9 Books That Celebrate Librarians - Rachel Rosenberg
Books of Note 📚
The Trouble With White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism - Kyla Schuller (nonfiction)
Olga Dies Dreaming - Xochitl Gonzalez (fiction)
Time Is A Mother - Ocean Vuong (poetry)
Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection - Julia Cameron (self-help)
[If you order any of the books above or any listed on my Bookshop site, a percentage goes to local bookstores and I get a small commission. Thank you for not ordering from Amazon!]
Be Witchy 🔮
13 Spell Books For Every Type Of Witch - K.W. Colyard
Playlist 🎵
“Turtleneck Sweater” - Marinelli
“Wisdom Tooth” - Wallice
“Die/Cry” - Indigo De Souza
“Tears In The Club” - FKA twigs, ft. The Weeknd
“In My View” - Young Fathers
Self-Care + Good Things ☕
Cinnamon hot cocoa, walking in the cold and listening as my feet crunch the snow, getting amped up to work with a rad personal trainer virtually, pics of my nephew Kino who is so full of joy and presence, subscribing to Lux Magazine, reading all about what a sweet soul Betty White was, naps, watching soothing shows on BritBox.