Thinking

We inhabit a world of curated outputs. An infinite loop of visible x viable. The world is built in grids and dares you to default. We are always to toe the line, bearing practicality like a cross.
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Is there another way to be?
Yes, says David Epstein, in Range.
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This book helps make sense of the years we label 'in exile', of journeys that fit the theme of 'katabasis.' It inspires counters to our confirmation biases. And reminds us of the miracle that is the non-linear life.
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Reading the histories of Van Gogh, Johannes Kepler, and Frances Hesselbein - I begin to worry a little less about disruption, about being an outsider, or missing out on a headstart and begin to trust in the possibility of reinvention.

Feeling

Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman - two Aquarians and a Gemini (I always know this all -important data point) returned with S2 of The Night Manager. After a decade.
The second season is no longer based
on Le Carre's writing.
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As I watch, I feel disoriented. Neither foreign nor familiar. 2016 me adored the first series. 2026 me has become resentful because of how the story treats dogs (more important now than how Hiddleston stuns in his slim-fit shirts).
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Where do we go from here? Back to where we first began? Or hand in hand, face-first, into the Amazonian rainforests?

Looking

It is summer where I live. 35 degrees celsius. Most of the country has turned red on the heat map. As I peer out of my window, into the parks, it amazes me how the sunlight obliterates details, how the boys gadding about will squint and lower their heads, and scout about for shade. The dogs and birds are invisible. The trees are almost white.
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I think about more - light and looking. And wonder how often it gets in the way of seeing.
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So here is a moment, imperfectly seen, tenderly remembered.

Living

Uranus, in its association with the nervous system, inspires both logic and invention.

The nervous system is flexible. It can run on fumes when we need to catch a train, and freeze until all that feels possible is to hunker down under a duvet.

From what I have learned over the last several years, the key is not a staunch refusal to stress out, but an ability to respond to stress—and to rest.

A responsive system is one that places one hand on the belly, another on the chest, in the midst of life, and says,

“Ah yes, here I am.”

Postscript

I’d like to share Traversing Tuesdays by Mycala K—a resting space for creative people navigating limited energy and real life. She shares stories, artwork, the occasional cartoon animal, and more.

(I’m looking forward to showing her my dogs soon.)