Don’t let a waiting season become a wasted season. Make sure the thing you’re waiting for finds you LIVING. When it finally arrives, let it discover you immersed in the creative, full, vibrant, and abundant life you’ve created for yourself. Let it hear you squeal with surprise and delight, “Oh there you are! I started without you. Hope you don’t mind.'“
August in 9 Squares.
Impromptu picnics. Ridiculously gorgeous sunsets. Forest bathing. Witnessing bravery on stage with poets sharing their work. Bike rides. Beach walks. Wedding card commissions. Bowling (the first time in decades!). And the first sign of fall, my favorite season of the year.
To-Do List.
Mondays are often when we get in our head about everything we need to do and accomplish for the week.
May this be your invitation to pause and return to your body and your breath. Ultimately, it’s more about the relationships we cultivate and the people we love than everything we’ve done.
People As Sunsets.
West Cliff, Santa Cruz
People are just as beautiful as sunsets if you allow them to be. I never judge a sunset and think, “It’s too orangey-red on the left-hand corner.” I only observe. Filled with wonder and awe. Witnessing and watching with delight as it develops and unfolds over time.
The Art of Alcohol Ink (and Life).
Thanks to everyone who joined me last Thursday at Creekside Social for our Music, Makers, and Mindfulness Event! I enjoyed sharing this incredible medium of alcohol ink with so many new faces, and inviting people into a mindfulness practice to settle in our bodies before creating.
Playing with this art form taught us in real-time how to release control, let go, loosen up, surrender, and most importantly, have fun!
Join us for our final event in this summer series next Thursday, 8/22.
(And save the date for Oct 23rd when I’ll be returning to teach again!)
Photo cred: Anthony Le
Better Than Before.
Version 1 of this art piece, created in 2021.
I’ve come back to this piece, feeling like something was missing. Because once we’ve interacted with another- especially someone that we’ve had deep feelings for- we can’t help but be forever changed.
It took me time and space to recognize the gifts that still remain, even after a relationship ends. That single piece of advice they gave you that you still take to heart. The album they introduced you to that defined your 20’s. The book they gave you that changed your perspective about life.
The people I admire are a mosaic of colors they’ve created with others throughout their life. Instead of bitterness, they see their lives full of gifts and gems they’ve collected. Their lives are radiant and glowing not in spite of their past, but because of it.
I hope that somehow, we can all leave each other better than before. 💚
Why We Gather.
If there’s one artist whose music encapsulates specific chapters of my life, it’s Alanis Morissette. On road trips back and forth between UCSD and the Bay Area during college, I blasted and sang “Unsent” and “That I Would Be Good” which seemed appropriate as I’d gained more than 10+ lbs during my freshman year. Her songs “Torch” and “Not As We” were played on repeat during breakups, and her lyrics helped me feel understood and less alone.
When I found out she was back on tour, I immediately purchased tickets to see her with my friend at Shoreline Amphitheater. I was looking forward to this concert for months.
So imagine my surprise and disappointment when at the last minute, my friend couldn’t make it. She’d accidentally mixed up the dates of the concert and had freed up Tuesday evening instead of Wednesday. In a scramble, I asked around to see if anyone else could go. But when I slowed down to think about what I really wanted, it all became clear.
““Take the reasons you think you are gathering—because it’s our departmental Monday-morning meeting; because it’s a family tradition to barbecue at the lake—and keep drilling below them. Ask why you’re doing it. Every time you get to another, deeper reason, ask why again. Keep asking why until you hit a belief or value.””
What I wanted was to make a new memory with this friend who’s been there for me through thick and thin. What I wanted was for us to sit on a lawn and have a picnic and experience the magic of a summer evening listening to Alanis’ music. What I wanted was to be reminded that life is wild and painful and beautiful and miraculous and we are here to experience it all.
So I created a new plan. She already had Tuesday night free, so I invited her to have a sunset picnic sharing a delicious meal outside in nature. We listened to Alanis’ music. We reminisced and laughed and shared old and new stories. We remembered our painful moments in life with a lightness that comes only with time and perspective.
It was everything I had wanted- just reimagined in a new way.
I traded an evening in a huge crowd cheering and singing along with one of my favorite musical artists, for a quiet picnic with one of my best friends that filled my heart more than any of Alanis’ songs could have ever done. When we take the time to consider why we’re gathering, we give ourselves a new opportunity to create meaning. The end product may look wildly different than the initial plan. One that perhaps, has the potential to be more memorable and special.
Isn’t it ironic?
How to Live.
On December 15, 1933, Jung responded to a woman who had asked his guidance on, quite simply, how to live.
Dear Frau V.,
Your questions are unanswerable because you want to know how one ought to live. One lives as one can. There is no single, definite way for the individual which is prescribed for him or would be the proper one. If that’s what you want you had best join the Catholic Church, where they tell you what’s what. Moreover this way fits in with the average way of mankind in general.
But if you want to go your individual way, it is the way you make for yourself, which is never prescribed, which you do not know in advance, and which simply comes into being of itself when you put one foot in front of the other. If you always do the next thing that needs to be done, you will go most safely and sure-footedly along the path prescribed by your unconscious. Then it is naturally no help at all to speculate about how you ought to live. And then you know, too, that you cannot know it, but quietly do the next and most necessary thing.
So long as you think you don’t yet know what this is, you still have too much money to spend in useless speculation. But if you do with conviction the next and most necessary thing, you are always doing something meaningful and intended by fate.
With kind regards and wishes,
C. G. Jung
May you do with conviction the next and most necessary thing in your life, so that you are doing something meaningful and intended by fate.
Don’t know where to start?
Put away your phone. Stop scrolling. Stop hiding. Make something you care about and share it with people you care about.
July in 9 Squares.
Come Make Art with Me!
This summer, I’ve been involved in a fun series of art, mindfulness, and music at Creekside Social in San Jose. I’ve led the mindfulness portions for these events, and I’ve loved inviting people into a mindful and present state to access the deeper themes behind the art-making. Figure drawing was all about the art of seeing and being seen. Upcycling and sewing were about taking what no longer served its initial purpose, and creating something new that’s relevant for us now. (Similar to how we can change outdated narratives and storylines to support us in life). Last week’s improv class was about the art of staying present, and realizing don’t have to abide by old cultural and societal scripts- we have the power and privilege to choose how we will respond in the moment.
I’m excited to announce that I’m teaching a class using alcohol ink on Thursday, 8/8/24 from 5-7pm. This medium has taught me firsthand how to let go and let be. It’s invited me to soften my perfectionistic tendencies, loosen up, and stay open to what can unfold. So many times, it’s the moment when I surrender and release control when the magic happens.
I’ll be joined by singer/songwriter Esther Young (our third collab in a year!) and her lyrics and tone perfectly match the ethereal and dreamy nature of this medium.
Hope to see you there!
Ways to Reflect Love to Someone.
Dream Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park
Answering your phone when they call, even if you’re in the middle of something. Remembering quiet anniversaries- when their dog died, when their mom passed away, and letting them know you’re thinking of them. Giving your honest opinion when they ask, with kindness. Putting your phone away when you’re together. Listening to the story they’ve told you three times already, with as much enthusiasm as if it was the first time. Text me when you get home. Picking them up from the airport. Surprising them with their favorite snacks. Unloading the dishwasher. Letting them vent without giving advice. Apologizing first. Celebrating their wins as if they were your own. Tell me your dreams. Choosing to trust their word. Sending them silly memes. This made me think of you. Showing up for them because you know how hard it is for them to ask for help. Following though. Being loyal during rocky times, not just by staying, but by being an active part of their healing. Letting them love you, too.