read with me: fall 2020
read with me!
Hi again, I’ve missed sending these. My brain could not string two words together or even think of writing this until after the election. And then the weeks slipped by and I’ve sunk into a pandemic-induced malaise as case counts climb, the Bay Area reinstates a stay at home order, and as I try to navigate the difficult decision of returning home to visit my dear family on the east coast. Sigh. Sending love to anyone else struggling with similar challenges. 💓
Reading over the past few months has also felt strange, and I haven’t been able to sink into fiction in the way I usually do. Characters are feeling flat, and dialogue seems pat and boring in every novel I’ve read lately. It’s kind of like when I watch movies now and see people gathering in groups and feel terrified...I can’t tell if it’s me or the art. If you’ve recently read captivating and brilliant fiction, PLEASE let me know. I need something to get me out of my fiction slump!
books
The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk
So many people I respect have recommended this book and now I finally understand why. It is a brilliant, well-researched, readable look at the connection between trauma (early childhood, life-altering accidents etc) and the body and mind. Van der Kolk is a well-respected medical doctor who early in his career as a clinician noticed that many of his patients were experiencing untreated trauma. Most were given DSM-5 diagnoses that ignored the trauma they experienced, and he has dedicated his entire career to changing the medical establishment's approach to trauma treatment. The book is fascinating and I particularly enjoyed learning about all of the potential tools to helping people manage and overcome embodied trauma like yoga, EMDR, family-systems therapy etc.
Radical Dharma, Angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Rod Owens & Jasmine Syedullah
The other week I watched Devin carefully preparing to cook dinner, methodically chopping vegetables, arranging his cooking supplies, and prepping the kitchen area and it hit me that I’ve been feeling less and less mindful and in my body during the pandemic. Maybe it’s from hours of sitting on my butt in the same place on Zoom calls day after day? Who knows. For me, I always want to get through mundane and boring tasks. Oh the onions are completely different sizes? Whatever. The dirty dish is really only 75% cleaned? It’s FINE as long as I can get to something else. So I’ve reluctantly reentered the world of meditation and have been cautiously reading books on mindfulness and meditation. I loved Radical Dharma because it a) isn’t preachy b) dives into the challenges of creating meditation spaces that are not white/westernized c) explores how mindfulness and meditation can be used as a tool for liberation and cultural change.
Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown
My copy is now covered in underlines, highlights, book marks and proclamations of “YES! THIS!!!!” and I promise it will inspire anyone who is looking to make meaningful change in the world. I can’t really encapsulate it with a short description because it is so different from anything I’ve read, but here's a go. the book, which is written by adrienne maree brown, who is a Detroit-based activist, writer and birth doula, offers guides for creating personal life-sustaining routines and rituals that support activist work, provides interviews with bad ass activists who have applied emergent strategy in their lives, and includes extensive guides to create lasting and transformational change within NGOs. She weaves in poetry, music recommendations, and an extensive bibliography into the work and it is really brilliant.
And a couple others because it has been so long since I've written:
The Sound of the Mountain, poetic, intense, strange, ethereal, deeply sad, but also strangely calming.
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson is SO talented and I loved how she wove personal narrative and anecdotes with really really thorough research on the history of caste in Nazi Germany, India, and the United States.
other reading i've enjoyed
How to get over Never Good Enough
The Reigning Queen of Pandemic Yoga
things that are makinbg my life better
These months have been difficult, but I’ve experienced so much joy thanks to good music, cooking, my amazing roommates/quarantine squad, and Dev of course. Here are some of the treasures that have made my life better:
Radio bacalao playlist, Apple cider doughnut cake (seriously if you bake anything this fall/winter, it should be this), Instapot chicken noodle soup, duck tacos with chinese eggplants, cinnamon crunch knots, chicken thighs cooked with red wine, mushrooms, and tomatoes in the dutch oven, 10-minute yoga for self-care, Luther and obv Idris Elba 😍 (Also glad someone recently wrote about why British police shows are so much better than what we’re stuck with in the US), Energy cleanse playlist,… just trust me. Chunks hair clips, Mary oliver + krista tippett interview (listen and feel wrapped up in Oliver’s tranquil and calming words. What an icon.) Waffle socks For my Bay Area friends: Big H BBQ,, Cellarmaker Pizza,, Dream Fluff Donuts,, Proyecto Diaz Coffee,, cafe st. jorge,, black jet baking co Samin Nosrat's podcast Home Cooking,. Learning how to rollerblade visiting Joshua tree and learning about Minerva Hamilton Hoyt, the conservationist who made the park possible & visiting Desierto Alto, the most well-curated bottle shop I’ve ever been to. Over the garden wall
And if you’ve made it to the end of this very long email, please let me know what you’re reading, or what's bringing you happiness, and forward this newsletter to anyone you think may enjoy!