be curious
in which we atone and fast, catch up on The Chrysalis, and, I don't know, I'm hungry.
Hey Hartlist,
‘Happy’ Yom Kippur to any who observe! I am, as we may have discussed, a half-tribal member from a fairly secular family. For me, “Observing” usually means “fasting because everyone else is, but with liquids” until 5PM when I can walk in the door of my aunt’s apartment all - as my young cousin once put it - “Is this the bagel holiday?” (It is.)
JUST THE GIGS - JK THERE ARE NO GIGS I’M WRITING WRITING WRITING
Here, enjoy the last ‘Chrysalis’ episode. Next one - #57 - will be 10/30/22 at 4PM ET
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FROM THE CHRYSALIS
I wasn’t even sure if I was going to fast this year. Then I couldn’t sleep, so I ate a piece of toast around 6AM and -I kid you not - immediately stubbed my toe. Which might not have been a Divine slap on the wrist (which I imagine would hurt less), but I’m not taking any chances.
Joking aside, I do always appreciate being reminded to appreciate something, and today that something is food. Which I am, in this life, fortunate to have access to when I need it, and that is not a universal given.
(2.5 hours til bagel o’clock.)
Also - not for nothing, I have been extremely productive today. Like, checking things off a list IN ORDER productive. (Before you google “intermittent fasting + productivity”, I already did it, and there’s apparently a link. Sigh. What ISN’T a life hack? Tell me that! Sometimes I hate the Internet.)
My niece said to me the other day, “Grownups are always telling me ‘That’s a good question!’ and then they look things up on their phones.”
(Guilty.)
She followed that up with, “Why don’t grownups ask ‘good questions’?”
I said, well, a lot of people do. But also a lot of us tend to think we already know stuff, and so we forget to be curious.
“Why do they forget to be curious?”
I feel like that’s a good question to leave you with today. Maybe it’s because I’m writing again1 that I'm really feeling the power Curiosity has, to jettison fear, ego, apathy. A quiet 'What if...?' holds so much power.
“Atonement” - yes I just looked it up on my phone!! - is ‘reparation for a wrong or injury’. But we can’t repair what we don’t notice. And we can’t celebrate what we don’t notice either.
Speaking of atoning, I am sorry I missed last week! See you next Wednesday. I’m heading out of town -got the last spot in a weekend workshop on Memoir writing with a teacher who Knows (more on this later). I booked it before I even knew I had the solo show commission and I am very excited. Will report.
Happy Noticing,
Rebecca
new draft of ‘Iron John’, reading in February! New solo show, coming in the spring!