Book club shenanigans and what I've been up to for the past month
Letter #5, migrated from TinyLetter
Hi all!
This post continues my series of reposting my old TinyLetters onto Substack. If you’ve noticed, this next one is Letter Number 5 already. The fourth one, I’ve decided, is one that is too personal to share now, but was necessary for me to write at the time that I did.
That said, I’m happy to share the final two letters, in two different posts, with all of my subscribers, old and new.
Thanks, friends, for reading and see you (shortly!) in the next one!
5 June 2023
Hi everyone! I'm back after a short break, and am quite honestly feeling like I am planets away from who I was and how I was feeling around a month ago.
Some personal housekeeping before I get into the specifics: I joined a gym (yay!) and apparently endorphins are real? What a concept. My mood is up (and it isn't mania??) and I've just been feeling a general sense of upliftment. I honestly love that, and though I don't know if it's going to last or for how long I will be this stable, I've decided that it doesn't matter for now, and that I don't need to anxiously await any crash or dip or low mood. This Barbie is living in the present (lmao).
Lately , I've also been trying to sit with the concept of movement, in all its applicable senses, and in what it means for me in particular. There is of course, the physical, as in exercise and activity; the mental, as in the ebbs and flows of my moods; the emotional, as in my recent growth, boundary setting, and acknowledgment of what responses, patterns, and behaviors do and do not serve me anymore; and finally, intellectual, as in the nourishment (of any form of media, though in this case, literary) that allows my brain to constantly renew itself and stay afloat amidst the drudgery of joyless obligation (i.e. work).
With regard to this intellectual movement, I am happy to say that some dear friends and I started a book club in May, and it has done complete WONDERS for my brain (on all fronts). I get to spend time with people I love, listening to their brilliant ideas and ruminations on books, while also getting back into the habit of rigorous and critical approaches to the reading of texts. One book in, and I must say, this book club is already the highlight of every month [and possibly of this whole year? Who knows what could still happen (I welcome abundance)].
I'll talk more about the book we read for May, and the particular creative exercise we decided to add on to our monthly discussions, in the next newsletter. Don't worry, the wait will not be long!
As always, thank you for reading.