August is taking her last breath and to me, she was a big tree, and each day I watched new leaves unfurl. I started this month sad and heavy, until I drove to the mountains with friends and swam in icy water and sunbathed on rocks and understood a bit more why some people move to the mountains and never come back. I spent a lot more time barefoot and was a lot better about using the open windows instead of the AC. I sat under trees in different parts of California and swung hammock lines around them and hoped that somehow it felt like a hug.
I know it’s almost fall because my mother will say unfailingly, in the second half of August, ‘Look at the light, it’s more slanted.’ And that’s how I determined, this season of summer, that my favorite season is autumn. That slanted light that shimmers into focus in September, sharpening edges from the scintillating haze of summer, is the backdrop of my nostalgia. Maybe it’s the sanctity of new beginnings, fresh school years, the deep reds, oranges, and yellows. One thing I’ve loved about making monthly Spotify playlists since I was 18 is my ability to time-travel to different times in my life and bask in very specific feelings. And I think it’s significant that at any point of the year, the playlists I tend to revisit the most are my September, October, and November ones.
I’m feeling really connected to and excited about my work for the first time in a good while. As many of you read in my newsletter earlier this year, being in limbo while job hunting was tough… a universal feeling, I know. But I do find a lot of meaning in the storytelling that I want to do for a living, and I feel so grateful to be at a job allowing me to do that with a lot of autonomy. One of my favorite parts of my work is that I get to ask questions all the time. So in the spirit of summer coming to an end and a year of new learning upon us (whether you’re in school or not), I’ve written up a few things I’ve been thinking about. Use them as journal prompts, conversation starters (or debates) or just read ‘em and move on.
Who is one person in your life who dresses really well, and have you ever told them that?
What is the ideal time to wake up on a Saturday?
What part of your personality do you think is the most recognizable to other people?
How many times have you danced this year, either by yourself or with other people?
When was the most recent time that you felt young? How about youthful?
What’s the best thing to eat on a piece of toast?
Happy September! <3
Reading:
“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
Listening:
The “Not For Everyone” podcast, which carried me through my trips up and down the I-5
This episode of What A Day that I produced and am really proud of! It’s about the nationwide teacher shortage, and the interview has a beautiful message of hope for our education system.