Sparks and Snippets #1

What I'm reading, what I'm listening to, and what's lighting me up this week.

Hi friends,

I thought I’d shake things up this week and let you in on what’s sparking joy and creativity in my soul this week. I find the things that ignite our curiosity endlessly fascinating, don’t you? Sometimes it’s a line in a book or a song or a poem that just squeezes your heart or takes your breath away for a moment. Sometimes it’s something someone says in passing, and you think “Oh!” and it just won’t leave you.

Alas, here’s a glimpse into my inner world this week- maybe something will grab you as well.

WHAT I’M READING:

Lately, when I go to the library with my five year old, I have gotten in the habit of grabbing three or four books that I might-maybe-kind-of find interesting (usually I can only give about 20% of my attention to these selections because I am craning my head to keep an eye on my kid, so my decision making is largely influenced by cover art and genre) so it’s a bit of a blind grab-bag. When I get home, I sit and read the first few pages from each book and then put them all down. The one that I am still thinking about an hour later becomes my next read.

(Last week my librarian told me to subtract your age from 100 and that is the number of pages you should commit to reading before judging a book worthy of your time. I am apparently judging these things as though I am 97 years old and just don’t have time for any shenanigans. Maybe parents with small children get to subtract from 50 instead? I hereby pronounce that it is so.)

Anyway, this time, one of the books I checked out was Leif Enger’s recent novel Virgil Wander, and I didn’t even give the other books a chance (sorry books, I’m sure you’re great. I just got swept away is all). His 2001 debut masterpiece, Peace Like a River, is one of my all-time favorite books. When it came out, the SF Chronicle said this of his writing:

“Enger is the type of writer that other writers read, and die a little.”

I find this to be incredibly accurate. (Can you imagine getting that endorsement?! Dewey-eyed-hand-on-chest-dramatic-sigh.) Alas, although I dabble in painting from time to time, I do not stand in front of a piece by Caravaggio or Van Gogh and think, “I could do that!” I am quite content to play. I don’t need to be in a museum, and I probably don’t need to compare my writing to masters of prose and die a little, either. I’ll just absorb all the goodness and let it inspire me to be better.

On that note, here’s something that ignited a little spark in me yesterday from dear Virgil Wander:

“If I were younger I would have fallen in love with Lily Pea. Maybe I did fall in love with her, for a minute or two. Probably I did. Who wouldn’t? Besides being pretty and smart, Lily was reliably kind.”

She was RELIABLY KIND!

I just keep thinking about that. I keep thinking about the people in my life who are reliably kind. Is there anything more valuable, really? My new life goal is to be that person. God knows I am not always this person- especially, say, when my little girl wakes me up early for the 87th morning in a row, and I become possessed by some kind of angry troll that is totally unrecognizable to my post-coffee self. I am reliably kind to strangers, and probably even friends. But what I really, really want is for my daughter to one day say of me: “My mom was reliably kind.” That sure would be something.

We shall put it on a tee-shirt.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

I listen to a LOT of podcasts, friends, because I clean houses for a living (Easter egg: a personal essay on that life choice coming soon), so for many hours each week I am absorbed in some serious long-form conversations typically related to religion, psychology, politics or something all together fluffier, depending on my mood. Here are some of my favorites from this week:

We Can Do Hard Things: How to Break Family Cycles w/ Dr. Mariel Buque. Shout out to the wonderful and wise

K. Alexandra

for the recommendation! I am a huge fan of WCDHT (I’ve listened to most every episode since the beginning) but have fallen behind of late, and missed this gem about intergenerational trauma and it was FANTASTIC. I thought I understood what this meant, and I did not. I am beginning to grasp it now, and the real-life implications are profound.

Heretic Happy Hour: The Moral Teachings of Jesus and Is Jesus God? I love this podcast- our very own TTE Alumni Keith Giles co-hosts this gem, and brings on really great panelists to join in some juicy conversations (folks like Brandan Robertson, Heather Hamilton, Lisa Sharon Harper, and even Rainn Wilson), and they always make me think. They don’t answer these big questions (how boring would that be??) but they do offer some great insights and new ways of thinking about some age-old-head-scratchers. If you’ve got a background in Christianity and aren’t appalled by “unapologetically irreverent” conversations that aren’t afraid to swim in deep and uncomfortable waters, dive right in.

Armchair Expert: Cat Bohannon (on the female body and evolution) and Armchair Anonymous: Blessing in Disguise. If you don’t already follow this podcast by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, you really need to get in there. The linked conversation with Cat Bohannon about women’s bodies blew my mind. Also, if you just need a good laugh, try any Armchair Anonymous episode (they come out every Friday)- listeners call in with embarrassing/horrifying/unbelievable real-life stories, and the banter surrounding these on-air revelations is a weekly highlight for me. Sometimes a girl just needs pure entertainment, you know?

STACKS I’VE LOVED THIS WEEK:

Oh man, it’s so hard to choose! I spend so much time on Substack right now, and I am totally gob-smacked by the amount of talent and inspiration in this space. Here are a few reads that have really stuck with me this week:

Raising Myles: We Do Not Eat Cats and Dogs by

Marc Typo

. How about we listen to the son of Haitian immigrants right now? Tenderly, with wide-open hearts and our feet firmly planted on the ground? How about we do that, instead of listening to, as Marc describes him, “An angry orange with a slice of American cheese for hair”. Marc writes letters to his baby boy in this achingly beautiful and funny and sincere newsletter, and I am totally in love with his writing:

On this very planet you waddle on, there are people driven by the sole desire to reduce you not to what you are, but to what they see. As much as I try to will the love out of this planet for you with my words, you will still have to contend with both the beauty and ugliness that come from sharing the intersections of two beautiful worlds—Haitian and Black. 

Mohammed Mohisen

’s post, How does it feel to sleep on a bed, wrapped in comfort? cracked me right open. This beautiful young medical student is living through hell on earth in Gaza, and his voice has been ringing in my head all week.

How does it feel to go up and down the stairs, moving from room to room, to shower under a stream of clean, warm water, to feel the soap, the shampoo, the simple luxury of cleanliness?

How does it feel?

These are all blessings we took for granted, details we never imagined we could lose. Now, they’re like dreams, lost in the fog of the past ten months. Is it even possible to go back? To live that life again, to feel those things again, like we used to?

And THIS essay by the luminous, lyrical genius

Jocelyn Lovelle

called “Grace is When Your Belly Softens” really did help me unclench a tight fist in my chest.

We are all so full of the doing of things, pressured by our culture and its patriarchal lens of success, and yet I know, I know, that what we are here for is to love each other and be bowled over, on a moment to moment basis, by the wonder and beauty of this world. For me right now, it's the thinning golden light of late summer, the dried leaves scraping the concrete in the small breeze, the ripples on the pool's surface and the big, puffy white clouds against the light, light, blue sky. 

Also, my dear friends,

Mesa Fama

(Let The Words Fall Out) and

Constellations In Her Bones

(Constellation’s Substack) are participating in a micro-flash exercise of writing 100 words a day for a month, and it’s so fun and poignant and brilliant. These short poems and essays are FIRE!

Finally, my beloved friend

K. Alexandra

over at Dear People Pleasers is accepting submissions for her ongoing “Ask a People Pleaser” advice column, and she’s the REAL DEAL. Wise, funny and smart-as-a-whip. Go ask her all the things! She’s the kind of person you would absolutely call right away if you needed someone with a balanced nervous system to talk you off a proverbial cliff. And she’s RELIABLY KIND!!!

Now that I have flooded you with things to read and listen to, I’ll leave you with with a few songs to help you feel your feelings:

If you’re feeling feisty/dancey: Beaches, Edge of the Earth, Eminem and Rhianna, The Monster

If you need to calm down: Surrender by St. Finnikin (or anything by St. Finnikin, really…)

If you need a good cry: Written on the Sky by Max Richter

Tell me, what has ignited a spark in your life this week? I’d love to know what you’re reading and listening to as well!