43. The Eight Secrets To A (Fairly) Fulfilled Life
Friends,
Good morning from me and a tiny half inch pufferfish.
Remember:
“Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That's just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it's breathtakingly beautiful.”
~ L.R. Knost
1. Hydrate
Are you struggling to keep your house plants alive?
2. La Dolce Vita
Considering a little apartment renovation project in Milan, thanks to this beautiful airbnb designed by Ilse Crawford.
3. The Eight Secrets To A (Fairly) Fulfilled Life
Oliver Burkeman’s last column for the Guardian.
There will always be too much to do – and this realisation is liberating.
When stumped by a life choice, choose “enlargement” over happiness.
The capacity to tolerate minor discomfort is a superpower.
The advice you don’t want to hear is usually the advice you need.
The future will never provide the reassurance you seek from it.
The solution to imposter syndrome is to see that you are one.
Selflessness is overrated.
Know when to move on.
4. Oenophile
For lovers of natural wines, these boxes make the best gifts.
5. A Poem
Perhaps the World Ends Here — Joy Harjo
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.