This has been such a good week. My whole heart is stuffed with hope and joy. And it’s an odd thing to feel that and realize there were things weighing my down that I didn’t realize.

The election news this week was nothing short of incredible. Affirming. Inspiring. A good reminder that good things happen and that we can make them happen—by showing up, by stepping up, by moving toward the things that matter.

I dropped some letters/cards in the mail to friends. I received a truly lovely post card from a dear friend. I am planning shenanigans with another friend in a week or so. One other friend has been incredibly sweet and lovely. It’s all affirming.

And after feeling like I couldn’t possibly pull any words out of my heart, I feel like writing again—like I can. (It’s been a struggle. Drips and drabs, but nothing longer form at all for the past…six-ish months. Sometimes, it has even been impossible to poem, which is never a sign of good mental health for me.)

What form that will take, I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be revamping something old. Maybe it’ll be working on something new. But I write easier when I’m happy. And if you had told teenage me that, she would’ve laughed in your face, smudged black eyeliner and bright red lipstick and all.

I have also been listening to Florence + the Machine’s new CD on repeat, like a fiend. I can’t explain how viscerally resonate and affirming and deep that album is. But it is. It pulls feelings out of my bones that I haven’t felt in years. It holds up a mirror. It offers a hand. It counsels defiance and power with each line. Every witch I know—and every woman otherwise—needs to listen to it. It’s a spell, in its own way.

In short, it’s fucking brilliant. (I still don’t like “Everybody Scream,” but I understand it thematically along with the rest of the songs.)

Love to you, darlings.

XOXO