Hi friends.
I went back to work on January 16 after an extended holiday break. But now that I’m back, I’m not really sure that I ever left the work behind. Dishes and laundry are work. Doctor’s appointments are work. Relationships are work. Errands are work. Life is work. And life does not just stop just because you are on vacation.
On my first day back at my desk, the writing did not come as easily as I thought it would, as if I had just spent four weeks storing up energy for writing. The curser blinked at me in my empty document. The throbbing behind my eyeballs returned, and so did the tension in my neck. Bodies, I think, were not designed to stare at screens for eight-plus hours a day. These flat, glowing rectangles transport me to another dimension where my flesh and bone are not necessary. I stare into the void until my fingers move and the words appear. But all I want to do is dance and run and play and use my body. In the third week of January, the sun showed its golden face and pulled me out of my despair. Vitamin D—the real deal, not packaged in a daily pill or beamed from an LED light—restored my energy and my hope in the new year. A turbo boost to my spirits. I danced in our living room. I spent one afternoon just squinting and smiling into the rays in my living room (see photo above). I spun the prisms hanging in our windows, casting rainbow splotches on the walls. I rushed outside for walks. I took photos of the blue sky and pink clouds. And I felt excited again about a life that includes work.
How January started:
How February started:
It turns out, I just needed a lick of sunshine. As of the last week of January, work is good. Really good. I’m reporting two long-form features that I can’t wait to share with you once they’re published this spring (requests for sources below). I’m recalibrating my time away from the smaller projects to make space for complicated interviews and research into topics I care deeply about. More to come. See you in February—or next week if you’re a paid subscriber!
From my momentarily sunny window seat,
Amelia
Two journalistic requests:
1) I’m looking for people who have opinions about the NPS’s recreation.gov and associated junk fees (the $2-$15 reservation fee tacked onto a booking). At this point, I’m interested in analysis of big business’s role in the outdoors.
2) I’m also looking to interview women ages 20-40 who moved to mountain towns during the pandemic and ended up struggling with their mental health.
You can respond directly to this email if you are that person. Or you can forward this email to someone you think would be open to talking.
Latest Stories
The Fight For Oak Flat in Arizona (for Osprey’s journal)
Diversifying National Monument Designation (also for Osprey)
Best Places to Snowshoe in the West (Via Magazine)
I also help write the monthly Empowerment Avenue newsletter, which spotlights and supports the work of incarcerated writers and artists. Definitely sign up if you’re interested in diversifying your reading!
For HHC, I published an essay last week on how I’m honoring my privacy while building a digital presence as a writer. It’s only for paying subscribers, but if you’re curious, think of a subscription as buying me a coffee.
Monthly Favorites
Reflecting: My list of 30 end-of-year reflection questions is now ✨free✨ for all subscribers!
Reading: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, a murder mystery revolving around Greek tragedy. Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing, a collection of essays about art’s role in today’s political unrest.
Watching: Obsesssssssed with this AD Open Door tour of David Harbour and Lily Allen’s Brooklyn townhouse. I’m mesmerized by his delight over design. It’s also how I imagine Steve would give a tour to AD.
Forwarding: This post (by Jeff Goins of
) on quitting social mediaListening: I started a playlist for newsletter subscribers! The mood is slow and contemplative, with beats and acoustics and lovely lyrics, all for stimulating flow
Eating/Drinking: In PDX, Lokanta served up a comforting meal of beef skewers and bazlama (plus the desserts in my photo grid above); and the subterranean bar Sousòl offered yummy NA drinks made with papaya and banana.
Wearing: Find me almost every day in these Nat + Noor resin hoop earrings
Downloading: Is anyone else using Notion? Steve just got me into it!
Making: This blouse with ruffles and these linen sailor pants
Quoting: “I am finding the monotony of adulthood so much better than the shiny fantasy world I had wrapped myself in before the breakdown. Giving up showed me I can give up and stay alive simultaneously.” (wisdom from
of , one of my favorite newsletters in the whole wide world)Planning: I’m visiting London this spring, and I’d love to hear your recommendations. It’s so big and vast that I don’t even know where to begin!
Want more to read? Explore the archive for more updates like this one. And to connect with me directly, shoot me an email, comment on this post, and/or follow me on Instagram and Twitter (though I’m showing up on those two platforms much less these days).