Again 🗞️ Slow News Day #21

Hey,

If you’ve been here for a while, you might remember Slow News Day #8. It was all about goodbyes—about the conflict of leaving something lovely behind while appreciating how the temporary nature of things is what made it special to begin with.

(You might not remember it even if you have been here the whole time—that’d be a pretty impressive devotion of mental space to these silly slow emails.)

Well, I’m in that place again. We’ve left Cactus Coliving and today’s the last day of our mini-holiday at the end of it all. All of the words I wrote back in August remain true. In fact, I’m pretty moved by their accuracy and perspicacity. Nice one, me.

And yet, it still hurts a little bit. Of course. Of course it hurts.

The sunlight on my skin as a moving group of faces gather round tables to talk. The sound of ping pong tournaments echoing into the night sky. The domineering yet perfectly placed presence of Roque de Jama to the east. They’re past-tense things now, for us, but they’re present for the people who remain and future for those who are yet to come.

One thing that I missed in #8 was to say that I'm not trying to avoid the hurt. The fact it’s there at all is a testament to the strength of the connections made. How beautiful is it that I can spend 4.5 weeks with a constantly-changing group of strangers and end up feeling a little bit broken in the blink of an eye it takes to pass?

There’s a meaning and purpose to coliving that I’ve yet to properly articulate but, man, I can feel it.

Slow down guide

Need a little help moving slower?

Ease your way out of Friday afternoon with this newsletter, a nice cup of something, and a little background music. Steal my setup if you aren't sure where to start.

After I press send, it’s already the past. I scheduled this last week to keep me off my laptop. In fact, by the time this arrives in your inbox, I should be somewhere over the Atlantic, halfway through the journey back from Tenerife. I don’t imagine there’s a lot to choose from on board, so a healthy glug of water is the best I can offer this time around.

To go with your joyful hydration break, press play on Juan Wauters’ Woke Up Feeling Like Sleeping. It’s a dawdling kind of song, not too long and not too demanding. The song fades out to some Spanish chatter, somebody’s tapping a hand drum in the background. It’s a nice way to see in, what I hope will be, a lazy weekend for us all.

Take it easy,