May Newsletter: Metaphors be with You.
In the Ellipsis…
A curated list of things to boost your mood and inspire creativity.
Metaphors be with you.
I ran in to Chewbacca at Disneyland last month and I did not play it cool.
Overwhelmed, I blurted out: “You’re so rad.”
“RRRRRraawWWWRRRarrrr,” he said.
“…Okay, thanks! Bye!” I said.
That was it. That was the whole exchange.
It was not dissimilar to the kind of small talk I have with other adults who are emerging from the last couple of years with atrophied social skills.
For the next few hours, I circled back to this encounter over and over:
OH MY GOD. What did I SAY? Did I just tell Chewie he was RAD? What is wrong with me? Did people witness this? That was so uncool.
Doing fun things feels strange to me these days. Sheer exuberance over seeing a childhood hero felt unfamiliar and vulnerable and therefore, kind of embarrassing.
I finally snapped myself out of this shame spiral. It’s not as if Chewie was off somewhere judging me. Either he was not thinking of me at all or he himself was lamenting:
That woman thinks I’m a moron. What did I say? ‘RRRRRraawWWWRRRarrrr???’ God almighty. Who talks like that!? Honestly! Why do I leave the house? Come on. Diction, Chewie! Diction!
I accept this now: I often act awkward and say weird stuff. I sometimes completely misunderstand the grunted phrases of other friendly people. And it’s totally fine.
Clumsy and inarticulate, but brave and eager for connection, we are all just Wookiees trying to make friends on a planet full of humans.
Metaphors be with you.
love, Suzanne
Life is too short to be cool.
This is what happens when a cinematographer becomes a farmer: a life-affirming and beautiful documentary about resilience and love.
Molly and John Chester give me so much hope for humanity and the planet we all love so much. I rewatch this whenever I need a dose of happy.
Photo by Bookmarked by Andrea.
Camille Pagán is known for writing witty uplifting stories about women’s lives and relationships. My favorite combo.
Her latest novel, Everything Must Go is about a professional organizer trying to bring order to the chaos of her life while navigating a family crisis.
So much to unpack here and Pagán does it all with humor, as usual.
I always listen to audiobooks while doing the dishes, but now I’ve learned from this audiobook that multitasking is not a real thing.
Peak Mind gave me new perspective on my attention span… Oh look! A dog! Wait… What was I saying? Right! Anyway, truly, Peak Mind is a fascinating deep dive into focus and mindfulness.
If you want just a taste of this subject, check out the interview with Dr. Jha on the Dare to Lead podcast.
Thanks for reading!
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