Hi Friends!
I have some big news this week: my husband and I bought a van! Well, I guess the real big news is that we donated most of our stuff, put a few things in storage, gave up the lease to our apartment, and moved INTO the van full time! I'm sure I'll have many more updates and pictures from road trip adventures and random opportunities that show up while we're spending time in Portland, too. If you have any questions or have your own #vanlife stories, I'd love to connect and talk about them. This has been a dream we have had for a few years now and the Universe conspired for us and made it happen.
For our first official roadtrip, we headed to the Oregon Coast for Labor Day weekend. It was 80º the whole time and the ocean was a bracing but welcome relief from the heat. Check out my pictures and more thoughts on the long weekend here.
Okay, let's jump in to some reading! It's been a while and I'm excited to put this list together for you all.
History repeats itself: "Even the greatest of nations may suffer a catastrophic leader, but the nation can survive the test and protect its resilience — if the public stays true to its values, institutions and traditions." (the caveat here is that it's time for some of those values and traditions to change. Let's modify them so they're better for everyone. We've got this).
There's a Shut Down White Supremacy rally this weekend in Portland and this article from earlier this year will be on my mind while I'm there. It's long but inspiring; please give it a read. "Actions often ripple far beyond their immediate objective, and remembering this is reason to live by principle and act in hope that what you do matters, even when results are unlikely to be immediate or obvious."
I'm still on a brains-are-amazing-and-weird-and-wonderful kick since my concussion and this Tedtalk about a brain scientist that had a stroke is fascinating.
"If you want to have a life that is worth living, a life that expresses your deepest feelings and emotions, and cares and dreams, you have to fight for it. You have to go wherever you need to go, and you have to be wherever you need to be, and place yourself there against the forces that would distort you and destroy you." Alice Walker on uprisings and consciousness and empathy.
Maybe we all need a little less balance: "I think far better than striving for balance is striving for what psychologists call internal self-awareness, or the ability to see yourself clearly by assessing, monitoring and proactively managing your core values, emotions, passions, behaviors and impact on others." I like this a lot. Where do you want to be less balanced? Where do you want to go all in?
I have a gratitude journal that I've been neglecting for the past few months. It's time to put it back into my daily routine!
One of the first things I'll put in my gratitude journal this next week will be these body-love prompts. Won't you join me?
That's all for now, friends. Oh man, does it feel good to be back here. Thank you for your patience as I've been healing up. Any fun plans for the weekend? I'll be staying in Portland for this one to attend the aforementioned rally and to convince a friend to let me use their oven (since I no longer have one) to make this delicious cake. What are you getting in to?
One last thing: This poem makes me breathe deeply, maybe you could use a good deep breath, too.
Have fun, be safe, and love on each other
Alix
““I Worried”
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.
- Mary Oliver”