The opening weeks of 2022 hummed with a calm that I could not recall from last year. Same pandemic. Same furniture in my apartment. The difference, I realized, lay in the decided lack of razor wire.

Turns out that the beginning of a year feels much more relaxed when 25,000 National Guard troops are not patrolling the streets of your city.

Continuing those vibes, this month I'd like to direct your attention to one item, an extended metaphor that compares a person with a river ecosystem, both the tumbling water and the immovable boulders.

Related: I'm recommitting to my own guiding principles. I spent an increasing amount of time last year researching and writing missives of 500 words and longer. I want to recenter the goal of 300 words. Posts you can absorb in a long elevator ride, appetizers for future link-reading, small reflections.

I wish you calm in your days and weather, whether that's gentle rain or snow fairies.
 

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This newsletter was written on the traditional lands of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank.