- reborn by haircut -
dear fellow traveler of a winter night,
I'm writing to you from a berlin where spring feels nearly here. I went on a two hour walk today and noticed how the buds are ready to bloom. the trees and animals all seem to have an effortless internal clock, while we humans are slow.
what is this clock within us? what does the body want with spring?
I want: simple, soft pleasures. a lightness of being. winter was very good darkness training.
today, all the barber shops in berlin opened again -- it is a matter of personal dignity, germans say, to have their hair tidy! I walked, and looked inside the windows of a many hair salons.
so, in honor of that, I'm including an old journal post (from 4 years ago!!!) which I wrote about cutting my hair, following a very bad breakup.
then: an audio note about being in love with myself
and an excerpted piece of writing about the darkest winter of my life called -- in the city where sun is gold.
wishing you
seeds ready to bloom
within and without
xx kening
1 | a journal post from 2017: reborn by haircut
on self-reinvention after a bad breakup
"sometimes letting go doesn't need to happen with an epic, dramatic struggle. sometimes it's just saying to myself, after a long and arduous journey: my dear, you don't have to carry that luggage anymore."
2 | audio note: being in love with yourself (as a practice of power)
true love as true power
"I’m convinced that out of all the great practices we can inhabit and master — the mother of all practices, the ultimate practice of power — is the art of knowing how to be completely, deeply, in love with yourself."
3 | essay: in the city where sun is gold
"in the city of infinite grey the sun is not god; the sun is gold. there, both the locals and long term residents know that when the sun comes out — to run, not walk — to a tiny triangular strip of the canal, like chasing a gold rush: with eyes like shovels, and faces like buckets."
thank you from all the cageless birds in my heart for reading my weekly digest! write me back anytime.