I've had to surrender to a cold + the need for rest over the past week. As I emerge, I'm noticing the immense joy that tiny moments like tasting an orange or interacting with people I love brings. Colors + flavors + connection are just hitting different after a few dulled days. I'm actually startled by the jolts of joy I'm feeling, and I'm trying to take note. 

Spending time with Make Time for Creativity is prompting me to think about my approach to creativity...well creatively! Today I'm thinking about how boundaries of time + energy might enhance my connection to projects I'm currently working on.

I finished Real Americans by Rachel Khong this week + my thoughts keep returning to it. Our thoughts are shaped by our circumstances + absolutes are seldom as concrete as they seem...even when the best of intentions are in play.

Simple, beautiful home.
It's not a bookend. It's the whole narrative.
Mortgage-free + garbage-free.
Influenced influencers influencing.
It's both individually worthless + everything you have.

Hope your spirit feels renewed with the introduction of a new year. 

Love,
​Jane

Here in the United States, it's Thanksgiving. We have so many things to be thankful for: a big birthday celebrated, a pup who communicates love in palpable ways, a full rainbow, forest walking, laughter + conversation, cozy socks, cozier hugs, recovery from achy colds, new glasses, fish tacos, pumpkin pie, scarlet + golden leaves...I could go on + on.

Currently reading + noticing + writing + loving:
Make Time for Creativity by Brandon Stosuy
Everything Beautiful by Ella Frances Sanders
Pieces of You journal

Quietly among the most influential voices in the history of North American garment manufacturing.
Nico Nico is saying goodbye.
If you care about fighting cancer, there's a win here. If you care about environmental justice, there's a win here. If you care about oceans, rivers, all the rest- there's a win. If you care about climate change, there's a win.

Over the years, I have been so grateful to experience a community of sorts here.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your imagination, your compassion, your willing spirits, your encouragement, your presence in this world. We don't get to see each other face to face, but knowing that there are likeminded (in any way) friends in the world has fed my soul mightily. I am truly grateful for you.

Love,
Jane

I'm sitting by the sliding door watching hummingbirds + monarchs dip in + out of the butterfly weed + cleome. Cicadas buzz + a pair of goldfinches that have stayed all summer sway on the coreopsis. The air has cooled + brushes my toes resting on the ottoman. Beauty is here + right now. 

Health Nut by Jess Damuck had me with the cover. Throw in the fact that this is by the author of one of my favorite cookbooks, Salad Freak, and I know I have to read every word. I like these books so much, because they simply act as inspiration for my own creativity. This is my favorite way to cook. Intuition, seasonality + vibrant taste for the win.

Quiet Spaces by William Smalley is a prompt toward creating restful spaces. I enjoy reading his poetic language about architecture + insights into how long held spaces have made him feel over the years. I rarely read about one's connection to place + its impact on how one lives in books like these, so this one feels gentle + special.

Devotions by Mary Oliver is offering little, tender moments in our days. This is a book that I feel like I can pick up, open to any page + feel a sense of recognition + connection come into view. I've checked it out from the library more than once, and it is always a lovely returning.

Big shade.
​Coffee grounds + cork.
I like calm spaces. 
Summer's end(less).

Hope your weekend feels tender + spacious + that you have moments to look + feel + hear the beauty around you. Love is here.

Love,
Jane

A holiday has the weekend arriving midweek for some, so I bring you a collection that has been collecting for a while + is now busting at the seams.

Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel :: Five painters who changed modern art. Style + art + women + pictures + just yes.

The Work of Art by Adam Moss :: Moss explores how artists (read sculptor, cartoonist, movie producer, song writer, poet, painter...) get from an idea to a finished piece. I am enjoying every word. It's inspiring + insightful. Whet your appetite in the mean time.

Nonconformers by Lisa Slominski :: A convincing treatise to redefine those formerly categorized as outsider artists, folk artists, and self-taught artists as nonconformers. Hooray for unfettered imagination + the willingness to follow it.

Resilient by Rick Hanson :: I'm revisiting this one, because I'm feeling the need for a settling inside of me. This text has proven to be a useful starting place for bringing some thoughts + truths together (which has me hopeful).

Reminding me that simple combinations create simple summer meals.
Waste reduction starts with buying reduction.
The other AI.
None of our imaginations reached high enough. 
Saying good-bye. Turning a page.
​Making a change.
The long history of family life captured in the spaces in which you live.
A simple, multifunctional space.

Celebrate the freedom to take in the beauties of the season in ways you can taste, see, touch, smell + hear! 

Tons of love,
Jane

We've been talking about microplastics in our drinking water, blood + breastmilk for years. Mainstream news is just starting to catch up. This article from the New York Times might be the first I've seen about how to minimize exposure to microplastics. Since their site doesn't allow unlimited access, and since this is information all of us deserve to have...I'm going to include the article's advice here:

• ​The less processed our food is, the better. 
• The less plastic packaging on our food, the better.
• Skip plastics in the kitchen.
• Use wooden cutting boards rather than plastic ones.
• Store food in glass rather than plastic.
• Microwaves + dishwashers cause plastics to break down. Warm baby formula + breast milk in glass rather than in plastic.
• Skip plastic tea bags.
• Skip drinks in plastic bottles. Even opening and closing the cap can release microplastics.
• There are some home, water filters certified to remove microplastics from drinking water.
• Skip synthetic clothing. Friction from wear causes microfibers to be released + breathed in.
• Choose furniture + bedding made of natural fibers.
• Keep furniture made with plastic fibers out of direct sunlight.
• Vacuuming regularly (with a HEPA filter) can remove some microplastics from household air.

Honestly, most of these offerings are just common sense, when we really think about it. The ubiquitous nature of items like plastic baby bottles + fleece jackets, however, have probably dulled the alarm bells somewhat.

I think many will learn about this + simply shrug + say that we (Americans especially) will never stop eating chicken nuggets (the meat with the highest number of plastic microfibers per gram). But some of us remember when we found out about BPA in plastics, and manufacturers scurried to make the switch to non-BPA plastics. If we just shrug + continue on, manufacturers will be happy to continue to churn out recycled plastic e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. for our consumption, both literally + figuratively. 

Let's keep learning + growing + doing + moving + inviting others to join us...individuals + government + industry. We can do better for ourselves, our children + each other. We can.

Love,
Jane

The door wore nothing but a screen all day. The grass was mowed. A daffodil nods out by the compost. Chives + mint were gathered from the garden for dinner. It's all too early, but it is now.

Growing.
​Enjoying.
Mornings.
Evenings.

Hope you have a lovely today.

Much love,
​Jane

It's amazing how things come together sometimes. I feel like I've been following the breadcrumbs of all that I've been reading + watching + thinking...and it's leading to beautiful places.

I've been intrigued by Rick Rubin since I heard him on Ezra Klein's podcast + subsequently read his book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. I found Shangri-La, through a long ago pinned photo of his intentionally designed studio space. All of the above are worth consuming with a notebook + pen. 

I read Audrey Elledge + Elizabeth Moore's Liturgies for Hope after Jo texted me photos of a couple of pages from it. These words are sticking with me.

I've been dealing with some pain lately + experimenting with treatment, perspective + the mind body connection. While I waited for the library's copy of The Body Keeps the Score (again), I listened to Bessel Van der Kolk (again) here + here. All of it has me reading + listening every chance I get. 

Watching Flora + Son was a reminder that joy can be found in the present...even in an imperfect present. It's a reminder that curiosity + connection are worth pursuing...even imperfectly.

How do you do your laundry?
One degree of separation from being raw materials again.

Love,
​Jane​

My partner + I first lived together in Denver. We'd heard about bands like U2 playing at Red Rocks amphitheater, but we didn't have extra money for things like that. This summer, we finally picked a concert + went. The most memorable moment for me was when Phoenix played Love like a Sunset just as the sun set over the red rocks (utterly magical)...well that + when Thomas Mars touched my shoulder (!) to move me out of his way as he descended through the crowd. (ha) This explanation of how the song was made gave me goosebumps. "It's the end for you. The sun is going down, but for others it is rising. Something goes on."

The point is not happiness. It's happier-ness.
Interestingly, this idea makes me feel I've gained something, not lost.
​A space for two couples. ​

This weekend, seasonal eating involves apple crisp + pasta with spiralized zucchini, green onion + parmesan. There will be hot tea + mango smoothies, because these days are the perfect mix of sunny afternoons + cool evenings (+ also because that's what's in my fridge).  :)

Hope your weekend involves rest + play...a feast for the senses + time to notice it.

Loads of love,
​Jane

Two reasons I'm loving my library right now:
​
Enchantment : Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May :: A collection of beautifully communicated thoughts + observations which ripple deeper + deeper into my mind + create a path of breadcrumbs toward my own connection. 

Still Life by Rebecca Pacheco :: We're digging into this meditation thing...practicing...learning...opening to its possibilities...and feeling into its offerings. This book is part of that gentle quest.  

More reasons to pay attention to what goes into our clothing.

A quiet phase out that lowers emissions.

A government clothing repair scheme.

When you know what is enough, you are happy.

Ritual is a delicious concept. It conjures thoughts of centering actions with deep meaning that we can return to over + over again. Rituals have the power to gently turn our attention + transform our perspectives. 

I've been enjoying the ritual of dipping into guided journaling each morning, and I'm so happy with this little gem of a tool of late. Rachel Garahan starts out by expanding our gratitude vocabulary and then lays out a simple, yet profound guide to transforming our perspective (+ action) with a weekly practice. This practice goes beyond the familiar gratitude list + offers something deeper. It's a guide for days when it's harder to feel grateful + for taking action in the week ahead. 

All I can say is that I ended up purchasing three more copies for my nearest + dearest and since then have thought of a few more people with whom I'd like to share it (including you!). I want to sincerely thank Rachel for creating this beautiful book + for inviting us to "fill not just our own cups, but others' as well, the fountain of gratitude propelling its cycle forward."

Love,
Jane