Loving the world: spring 25 edition.

things I'm reading, watching, doing & listening to

Hey friends,

Now that I’ve done a few “Loving the World” editions, I am noticing patterns and trends. I’d suspect a reader who doesn’t like obscure storytelling art or global peacemaking efforts won’t care much for this edition either because it’s very on brand. Another trend: these posts get the most feedback, likes, and comments and I think it’s because we’re all just looking for ways to lighten the load, learn, and lean into love a little harder as the world goes …the other way.

So here’s to the things that light us up. They deserve to be celebrated and shared, as we know joy is resistance. Who am I to keep all this love to myself?

Here’s how I’ve been loving the world lately.

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1. I got back in the art studio to take a printmaking workshop in January through March. I love the slow, technical process of turning a blank metal plate into an image in conversation with a story. In copperplate intaglio, this happens over many hours and weeks of drawing, etching, refining, inking, and pressing. Stay tuned–I’ll share more soon about the process and my final prints, which I am scheming to offer in a flash sale to help artists from Gaza.

   

   

2. In The Artist’s Wayfinding: An Experiment last week, we discussed power through the lens of synchronicity and shame, and examined ways our creativity may have been impacted by shame as a child. In the gathering, we wrote letters to our child artist and letters as our child artist to us now.
   
   I shared the below photo of me at age 7 or 8 at the ballet barre in front of a mirror in my childhood bedroom. In the reflection of the mirror, there’s a cira Windows 1995 desktop computer, a globe, and a collage of cute boys and maps. Having the space to explore and express my creative passions has always been of huge importance and influence in my life. Back then it was dance, MS Paint where I learned to be a designer, and dreaming of seeing the world someday. Now it is book writing, reading, designing, and still all manner of fine art and dreaming of travel.

   

   
   It’s been so much fun and fulfilling to co-create this gathering of folks who want to be in conversation and community about creativity as a resource for these times! We’re hosting through July – it’s not too late to join if you’d like. Just shoot me a message and plan to come on Fridays. Read more in the post linked below.
   

3. My birthday came and went in the winter whirlwind that was February. I had an afternoon tea party with girlfriends, went on a fancy dinner date with Lane, had a virtual coffee date with my Italy crew, and was celebrated with surprise cupcakes at my monthly potluck. I love that my people celebrated big with me for a few weeks, and I squeezed out all of the goodness that I could.
   
   My potluck people have a tradition of gifting a word for a birthday. One I was given this year was “widdershins” — to move counterclockwise. This means doing things your own way: deciding to work for yourself, going to an island for solitude over the holidays, finding your own way through the world with art and story and design. Hearing this named as a virtue makes me feel so known and seen. I love this almost as much as I love my three year old chosen niece giving me the word “cats”. When we asked her to clarify since I’m not really known for feline affection, she simply meowed and pounced off.
   
   Inspired by this soul-level prophecy from a toddler, I bought myself a black cat mug from my friend

   Morgan Whitson
   , of the infamous Meow Lady and Handy Mo Co. (She’s moving to Denver, so look her up when you need expert, beautiful home design and renovations. Or cat mugs. 😻)

   

4. I launched this newsletter in February 2022 with this post – HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, WANDERING HOME! I’ve become the writer I am today because of this space, through developing this community, and the ways publishing here has helped me practice and discover what is mine to say, especially in my memoir. At Wandering Home’s genesis, I hadn’t found my voice or my readers, but I had an instinct and I was right – I would. I was so shaky and unsure in the beginning. I still don’t always know where it’s headed, but I’m glad it exists and that I jumped in to experiment without knowing the path.
   
   For year three, I’ve got a few series in store that will span the next few months or longer: one on creating sabbaticals, another on creativity as resistance, and the other on the places and homes that shaped me …and what’s coming.
   

   My newsletter is able to stay accessible and free without a paywall because of donations and memberships over on Buy Me a Coffee, where I share the stories and details I don’t share publicly here. For the upcoming few series, there will be creative extras, products, and details I can’t give away or share widely because they may be 1) at a level of my investment or expertise that deserves to reciprocated, or 2) sensitive or personal, and not for public consumption. My little coffee corner allows me to create and share these offerings with the right people in the right place. You can join for the price of around 2 coffees (just $10/month or $110/year!) Join me?!

   

5. I encourage you to listen to this conversation on my friend

   Kari O'Driscoll
   ’s podcast, It’s Relatable. Our mutual friend
   Faith Scott
   is a writer, speaker, therapist, healer, and yogi. She tells her story of trying to connect with her late mother and her roots by making a first-time pilgrimage to her mom’s home island in Puerto Rico. Simultaneously inspiring and heartbreaking – I’m in awe of these two storytellers in conversation about belovedness, home, and healing. Faith also recently gave a TED talk on her story and more on these themes. Give it a listen as well!

   

6. I recently flew to Houston to see the musical Hamilton with my 12 year old nephew. It was my second time seeing the show live, but his first musical ever! I loved seeing his reactions to the live set and his favorite songs (yes, he already knew them all) and surprising moments in the show that aren’t in the Disney+ movie or on the studio soundtrack. I also thoroughly enjoyed nerding out with him to share my theater knowledge and showing him how to find stage door and connect with the cast who all so kindly signed his coffee table book (yes, he brought it to the the show!) It was really special for me to get to experience this core memory with this sweet kid who is now a musical theater fanatic like me! Thanks for making it happen, sister!

   

7. My first CD purchase was the self-titled “greatest hits” Nirvana album. Having been raised on country music and 70’s and 80’s hits, there is a before and after I heard “You Know You’re Right” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. I was 10 years old, so I knew nothing of the release drama or why the band had ended. When I finally caught up, I simultaneously understood I’d never see them perform together. I still think their music still deserves to be played live. I’m probably an easy critic because I never had a shot, but I loved the Nirvana band reunion with Post Malone on the SNL 50th anniversary special, and this live stream tribute show with Post Malone and Travis Barker. It’s not Kurt, but it’s still his music and genius. Long live.
   

8. One Easter well into the pandemic, I was trying to figure out if any life was left in the church covenant of mine that I held so dearly, but instead, something gave way in me. I saw things I could never unsee, and my unraveling would become thorough having passed by this station. The collision of my doubt and disappointment created a fracture I wasn’t sure could or should be repaired. I didn’t know for sure how Jesus walked away from that tomb, but I did know certainty was not a virtue. It would no longer be my religion. Turns out, it was finished.
   
   I wrote this poem several years ago as I was analyzing, questioning, unraveling, attempting insider reform, and then ultimately leaving my church which dissolved soon after my departure (and so many others.) I documented the sins and crimes of the West through a particular Lent period, and for the first time, shared my critique publicly. I wish the words weren’t so relevant today in light of the continued genocide of the Palestinian people—Jesus’ people. May you find some solidarity here.

9. I’ve been volunteering support with creative direction for campaigns, events, and visual branding with Donkeysaddle Projects since early 2024. They recently hosted a beautiful circle of artists and activists in a performance-based virtual event and fundraiser called “Creating the Future We Deserve” – it blew me away and I’m so grateful these people and this work exists (though I hate that it has to.)
   
   With a broken ceasefire and ongoing genocide of Gaza, there’s no humanitarian aid going in or evacuations going out of Gaza because of Israel’s continued blockade and siege. Families are in more need of support than ever. At its core, DSP is an organization of storytellers who use film, art, advocacy, and education to engage liberation movements and inspire justice. They don’t do drive-by storytelling; their activism and aid is deeply rooted in relationship with those whose stories they've brought to the world through film, theater, and other art projects. Through this event, Donkeysaddle raised $4,500 for the Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project which provides direct resources and aid to Palestinians in Gaza and Cairo. You can contribute to this effort here.

   

What are you loving or finding joy in lately?

Here’s to loving the world,

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Related posts.

Loving the world: summer 24 edition.

Loving the world: spring 24 edition.