Friday Five

Five things from this week that are worth sharing.

1. The Women’s Moto + Wellness Summit last weekend was a blast. Krystn and I took two days to ride our motorcycles up there and it was gorgeous, especially the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Squamish. The event was about 100 women, mostly camping in tents, at The Second Chance Cheekye Ranch, an animal sanctuary up in British Columbia – there were horses and donkeys roaming around the grounds. We did breathwork and cold plunged and I did a reiki session and Chen-style tai chi, and we listened to music and soaked in the river and generally enjoyed being out in nature and the company of some other very cool women. It was pretty fantastic. I love sleeping in my tent and watching the stars from the comfort of my sleeping bag. I need to do it more often. 

2. I loved this wandering piece on walking by Junot Diaz. Diaz is about the same age as me and also grew up in Paterson NJ, so I’ve always felt a real closeness to his writing, and this one hit me square in the feels – it’s all about how walking is good for his body and his mental health, something I have been really missing. It’s been at least two years since I have walked without pain and I miss it very acutely at times, especially being able to hike in the woods. At dinner with friends earlier this week I said that I’m at a point in my life where I feel like I need to be spending most of my money on my body and it wasn’t until I said it out loud that the feeling really took root. I’ve been going to physical therapy for months, and swimming recently, and I just started pilates last week, but I really need to be strategic about how to get back into good walking shape and how to maintain my strength and fitness. Not being able to walk really impacts the quality of my life.

3. I have been reading but not really vibing with Rick Rubin’s TheCreative Act – it felt like Rubin was trying too hard to be a zen master – but then as I finished and went back to look at the highlights I’d made as I’d read, I found myself much more impressed with the guidance he offers. (It’s worth saying that this book was probably designed as an object that you turn to when you need it, and find a random page that speaks to you and I was simply reading it from start to finish.) Here are some of my favorites parts:

   1. A river of material flows through us. When we share our works and our ideas, they are replenished. If we block the flow by holding them all inside, the river cannot run and new ideas are slow to appear. In the abundant mindset, the river never runs dry. Ideas are always coming through. And an artist is free to release them with the faith that more will arrive. If we live in a mindset of scarcity, we hoard great ideas.

   2. If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist.

   3. Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.

4. Keith and I are still making our way through the TV show Shetland and this week there was an episode that featured a cake fridge. As soon as the phrase was spoken, I perked right up and googled it. It is as good as you think it is. Just like Little Free Libraries or roadside farm stands, the Shetland Islands have cake fridges posted on random roads, where local bakers put out their goods and you are trusted to leave cash on the honor system. I need to figure out how we import this practice to Seattle. Atlas Obscura has a little piece on it so you can see how cute it is: Cake fridges on Shetland.

5. We had another craft night this week to continue to work on our papier mache vases – which is just so fun – and I was inspired by my friend T’s practice of writing every morning and every evening. I’ve been trying to get back to doing Morning Pages (from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) for months and months now and this may have been the push I needed. I’m on my third straight day of doing them so fingers crossed I can keep it up!