Dear Cutie-pie Friends,
Today’s story has been a bit of a bust, starting with an absolutely brilliant piece of writing about the hard work of loving the world. And then I accidentally permanently deleted the entire post. Oops.
I thought about re-writing it, then made a bowl of soup and attempted a video. I promptly lost my fire, and bailed, but decided to share it anyway because it chimes with today’s theme: of showing up to love the world day after day even when all you want to do is sleep in, have coffee in bed, stare out the window and have a chat with Rousseau’s jungle creatures.
So, if you’re feeling cramped by perfectionism or rattling the prison bars of Getting It Right, maybe this short failed video will help.
Here’s a summation of said newsletter. And please, can we come up with a better word for newsletter? “Newsletter” reminds me of “memo” and per your request re the events of our days.
The re-written numbered Beautyletter
I haven’t been rising to join my husband and beloved swim mates to splash around in the gorgeous early morning hours. There’s a major case of low energy and the blahs, although after a couple of good conversations and an afternoon swim with a friend, my tail gets a bit of its wag back.
Twice this week, I’ve been saved by my friend Laurie, who lives about 1.5 miles away, and has texted at 7:00 a.m. to say she’s headed out for a stroll if I want to meet her and Ooooh yeah, you’ve never seen anyone spring out of bed and hit it so fast 💨💨
Note: Interesting to see what the Hell Yeahs are, which activities get you (metaphorically and literally) jumping out of bed lickety-split.I have an inspiring client who loves Mary Oliver, and does meaningful environmental work in the world. I read the poem “MESSENGER” out loud during our session, and have been repeating, like a leitmotif, the opening line, “My work is loving the world.”
In the Beauty Salons, where we contemplated a definition of Beauty that elevated it to the meaning/purpose of life, this “Messenger” line was used as a compass/directive. Imagine that our life’s work was to turn toward and love the world. What is love? In the Beauty at Work salon, we defined love as “presence.” So, what if this thing we call a “career” or a “job” is simply a space for us to be present with the world and awaken. How does that transform the way we work and live?
Note: I used to sit at my desk in one of the many companies I’ve worked at, watch everyone (human zoo!) and marvel at all the people who come together in these company boxes to interact and work out their shit. Sometimes it made me laugh, other times I found it beautiful in tender, innocent kind of way, like we were all playing dress up.In the original, deleted beautynewsletter, I wrote about Beauty’s omniscience and persistence, that it’s always there throbbing away whether we’re tapped into it or drinking from the grief hose, it doesn’t matter. However you define beauty—an exaltation of the senses; that which expands the mind and spirit; surprise; beauty as a verb; awe, a swell of life energy that’s external, internal, the universe—it’s ever present and waiting for you no matter what kind of mood you’re in. Beauty isn’t a fair-weather fan.
Let’s hear it for angry beauty and hungry beauty; for sad beauty and cranky beauty. Fuck-you & fuck-yeah beauty. Gnarly, sleep-in-your-eyes, creaky-joints, burnt toast and the lemon-lime green of spring beauty.
This week I have a more intimate understanding with the work that goes into loving the world. This week, I don’t want to love a goddamn thing, I don’t feel particularly optimistic or inspired by my vision of a future; I feel sad about my dad’s diminishing livelihood and my mom’s growing loneliness. I miss my co-working space and living breathing animated humans around me. But I will do my work! I will love the world, without knowing what the hell it means in this moment; I will stay in it, be present; I will be OK not knowing, I will accept a current of disappointment and instead of berate myself, I’ll explore it, see what I can learn.
I can’t remember how I ended the original beautylovenote. Something about soldiering on and dipping my nose in a fragrant iris, setting the table for dinner and eating outdoors with cloth napkins, and stopping to admire the curly baby fern frond on the trails with Laurie.
PS. (I had a PS.) There was a photo of the late breakfast I made for Steve and me. Fried egg on avocado toast with arugula. My mermaid pal Elisabeth inspired me to make this, and it’s how I expressed love this morning. It was a sunny surprise, fortified me for hours.
Drop-in coaching on Tuesday
If you want to see how Beauty can change/transform/improve your life, let’s talk. If there’s a luscious idea stuck in your craw and you need help getting it into the real world, I’m already rubbing my hands together and licking my lips. Let’s nudge it into the real world.
I’m offering single-serve coaching sessions on Tuesdays in June, $200 for an hour.
Email me at tatyana@everydaycreative to inquire/schedule.
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