Opening door, closing door
On New Year’s Eve a friend hosted a “vision boarding” party where we all gathered casually with wine and appetizers and magazines and scissors. We snipped what we thought was inspirational or reflective of the coming year, proverbially speaking it to the universe by gluing it to posterboard. The Kazoo magazines turned out to have some incredible graphics, including one of a check box next to the phrases opening door and closing door. It immediately caught my attention as the metaphor I’d like for my 2023. In a place of prominence on my posterboard visual manifesto, I appreciate how it stands for being willing to step into new areas while thoughtfully moving away from places that are no longer serving me. It allows me to add and to leave, to be aware of and open to both sides of the opportunities. May 2023 be full of opportunities.
2022 Reading
Looking back through my reading year is a great exercise to see what truly made an impact. What do I remember; what do I still think about; what have I recommended to others?
There were several greats this year. Mostly hardback books, with a couple aged paperbacks, and a few Kindle reads that were mostly reserved for times in transit. I read a lot with my 11-year-old, many that I’d not read prior. I appreciated having a range - fiction and non, professional and personal, recommended to me and randomly found.
I’m always happy to share books with others, and find delighted in creating a recommended reading list each year. Past years can be found here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018
Now to jump into the stack on my nightstand!
Tis the Season
I love traditions when they help create or reinforce community. One of my favorite traditions is holiday greetings in the mail. I especially like reminiscing about our year to find what might be worth mentioning in the couple paragraphs. Now that I have kiddos, I like thinking about how they’ve grown or matured over the year, and how to sum that up to our family and friends. And I like the connection that a holiday card can bring - a warm greeting to our elderly recipients, an affirmation of a new friendship, a welcome viewport into the lives of those we don’t get to chat with enough.
This year I went with a more traditional 4x6 card, with images on the front and our message on the back. We were fortunate to have some professional photos from a charity event over the summer, that both featured heavily and created the color palette for the card.
Everything was created in Procreate on the ipad, which is my favorite app for lettering digitally. Neon envelopes were a fun find! And of course I used vintage stamps whenever possible.
I hope everyone who received one felt a bit of the cheer my family was sending. It was such a pleasure to receive so many this year.
Solstice 2022
Welcoming back the light!
Thanks and Giving
My favorite holiday seemed to arrive suddenly this year. Everything wasn’t quite as in-place as I usually like it, but still a great day full of good food and family and gratitude.
This past year we added a table to our living room for the express purpose of being able to eat Thanksgiving not in our tiny kitchen. It was great! (We also use the table for puzzles, homework, games, art projects, etc.)
Everyone who eats fills out a list - and reads aloud - what they are thankful for. It becomes part of my Thanksgiving timecapsules.
I am a huge pie fan, but my littlest prefers cake. So this year I made a chocolate pumpkin cake, and we all agreed it was pretty terrific.
Each year for the past three years, while I’m cooking the kiddos set up Legos to create their own Thanksgiving Day parade, complete with mylar balloon characters. Full video available on Instagram.
And, we always try to get out into nature on Thanksgiving, to be grateful for the natural world. On this hike, the kiddos found an amazing log fort.
As always, we also use this day to remember those who were here first. We made donations to Dig Deep which is helping provide running water to the 30% of Navajo homes that don’t have it, and to the National Urban Indian Family Coalition who are supporting the 70% of American Indians and Alaskan Natives who live in urban centers, like Chicago.
Happy Thanksgiving, all. So much to be grateful for.
Doing Your Best
Don't compare yesterday to today, or today tomorrow. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
Affirmation from We The Urban, who is full of celebration for self-love, inclusivity, and marginalized voices.
October is a symphony
My favorite month begins. Even the worst of Octobers is better than almost any other month.
Between Now and Tuesday
Charles Eames was a practitioner of quality. No matter the task, the design, the concept, he approached it with a commitment to putting in the effort. Ralph Caplan, a friend of his, wrote an essay dedicated to Eames’ legacy of “Doing Quality”. Here’s to making whatever we do between now and Tuesday as first rate as possible.
Inescapable
Ursula K Le Guin always brings me hope.
On her way
“The system will collapse, if we refuse to buy what they are selling - their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notions of inevitability.
Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
Arundhati Roy
Parenthood As amateurs
Alvin Toffler wrote, “Parenthood remains the single greatest preserve of the amateur.” And all of us amateurs have a hard time learning from each other, we have to make our own missteps and craft our own parenting journey.
I’m grateful to have such a great partner to be continually learning it all with. (Today we took him to the bookstore to celebrate.) Happy Father’s Day to all the father-figures out there!
