My Outdoor Shower is Giving Me Life Right Now
What's helping you get through these times? On the vital importance of simple pleasures. An open thread...
Readers,
I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to keep my wits about me and stay hopeful in these dark times. Granted, historically, the world has been a pretty rough place to live. I supposed I’d take this period over, say, medieval times.
But lately the news is overwhelmingly bad, and so much of our worst history is either repeating itself or threatening to. I won’t rehash it all here—you know what’s happening. And I want for this open thread to be about enjoying bright spots—even momentary ones—that help us see our way through.
So… Bright spots. Simple pleasures. Snippets of joy. It’s amazing how having your spirits lifted in the smallest ways can change your mood and outlook, and give you what you need to take the next steps forward in your life.
Tell me what you’re doing to buoy your spirits these days.
Me, I’m finding solace in late afternoon walks and bike rides (I sometimes have to literally push myself out the door, but I’m always glad I did), weekend dunks in the Hudson River at Kingston Point Beach, soft serve cones from the ice cream stand around the corner, a morning rinse in the solar-powered outdoor shower my husband devised and cobbled together.
Taking concrete action also feels good. Next week I’m going to make some time for phone-banking with Field Team 6—maybe I’ll join their action to help flip North Carolina blue, on Monday, 7/11 from 1-3pm EST. Almost every day, they offer a variety of opportunities to canvas remotely. Check out their calendar.
Wishing everyone a good weekend filled with whatever bits of joy you can find…
Summer in Maine is short. But every morning, at 5:45 a.m., rain or shine, I go swimming (let's be honest: skinny-dipping) in my local pond. I get up at 5, make my coffee, drive over the Sagadahoc Bridge and down a winding back road to the parking area of a nature preserve. I walk through the woods, strip down, and jump in. Every morning is the same, yet different. The sky, the clouds, the water, the animals I see. One morning it might be a deer. Another, it might be a fox, or a turtle, or a toad. The mushrooms that grow along the path after a rainfall literally bloom overnight. Every morning I carve out a little 1/2 hour vacation for myself. Even on my worst days, I know that tomorrow morning I'll be back in the pond, and it makes living in this dystopian nightmare bearable for one more day. Being naked, outside, in nature, in my opinion is the ultimate rebellion. Plus it just feels good. I advise this path to anyone who asks. It keeps me sane.
I am in love with my cats. I want to marry them. Catrimony. A mother and a daughter - big baby girl baby, and baby girl baby. The best mother daughter relationship I've ever seen. They are both expressive meowers. They are a constant source of delight, companionship and we now have our routines. When one of the cats sits in my lap that's exactly where she wants to be. We both get comfort from the body body of it. I no longer live alone. They bring out the best from me and it's pure feeling. Tran species communication. I read an article in The New Yorker that said if you live alone and have cats and die, and they do not have food for several days - they will eat you. I admit I look at that differently now. I am in love with my cats. f