The Beckoning of Lovely
I tend to believe whatever you decide to look for you will find, whatever you beckon will eventually beckon you.
Woke up this morning with Amy on my mind. It felt so good to get to be a part of her crew, to be picked from all those people to participate in one of her projects. To be included. The one at The Bean with the yellow umbrella, Amy was in optimistic favor of an ordinary life, but still - somehow - turned everything she did into a piece of perfect artwork. Including dying. Life is short. We should all be so fucking lucky.
In case you haven’t heard it was raining in Los Angeles. When it rains here it’s national news, causing friends from all over to check in. Staying dry? Washed away? Is sweet little Santa Monica flooded? I don’t take well to wet weather these days - that changed some time in my twenties. As soon as I stopped looking for excuses to feel shitty and sad, seems like grey days lost their bewitching allure. Still, the silver lining is that this statewide onslaught of storms has helped put a significant dent in our drought conditions. Just last month, 36% of California was in extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor and it looks like that has dramatically changed. Just like J. Sole used to say, it’s a beautiful day for frogs when it’s raining. As hard as it is to accept sometimes, I guess the weather isn’t all about me.
Friends, I’m feeling very hopeful about the year ahead (can’t you tell by my mischievous expression?). Even with a mouth full of stitches (long story). There’s a teaching in Buddhism that suffering can strengthen our faith and I strongly attest to that theory. It’s like my favorite line in the Clifton poem: Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed. If these last few years have left us with anything, it’s a steadfast resilience that has proven strong enough to help all of us start all over. Look at you, over there, building a brand new business, getting breakfast ready for your babies, making a movie, going back to school to study that one thing you actually care about, writing a song, a book, a love letter so long that your pen has just run out of ink. Congratulations, kid. Keep going.
WATCHING: TELL ME MORE
READING: THE ART OF MEMOIR
LISTENING: THE DAILY STOIC
GOING: THE CROW
Until next time: tell the truth, take no shit and listen hard enough to laugh a little (even at yourself).
Here we go,
Anne