OOH LA LA #1

We finally had snow in New York City and I'm in bed dreaming of spring!

OMG, friend! You’re here!

I’m so excited to share this space with you and am incredibly grateful for your presence in this little corner of the internet. Wee!! Welcome to my playground!!

I’m currently sending this from my bed, where I’ve been holed up for 30-something hours with super low energy and some pretty bad pain. I’m pretty sure I sent myself into a fibro flare after going too-hard-balls-to-the-wall-kind-of-intensity level in an hour-long dance class I took earlier in the week. The problem is that I LOVEEE dancing, but I live in a disabled body that needs extra care, and sometimes I forget to give myself the accommodations I need.

For now, I’m taking it easy and enjoying the bright blue sky from my open window. There’s a cool breeze coming in and now and then, I can hear birds singing amidst the sound of city traffic and some neighbors playing pickleball just outside my apartment. My cat, Tiger, has climbed onto the window sill and is also bathing in the fresh morning air. If there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that two things can exist at once, pain and beauty, joy and grief. It’s always both/ and.

(I’m reminded of a line from Mary Oliver’s poem, “Invitation,” where she writes, "It is a serious thing/ just to be alive/ on this fresh morning/ in the broken world.” I couldn’t agree more! That’s what this space is all about!)

This week’s OOH LA LA! list includes: pickle juice, doing the dang thing, and the mystery of a song randomly popping into your mind.

Look, I know it’s controversial, but I’m not ashamed to say that I am obsessed with pickle juice. Pickles are great, yes, but my real love is the juice left behind after the pickles are consumed. I’m super into punchy flavors like spicy and sour things, and pickle juice to me exists somewhere in between. It’s got a nice little kick that makes me feel goooodddd!!!!

In theory, I know I could make pickle juice (or is it called brine?) because it’s just water and vinegar with spices, but I find sweet satisfaction in savoring the pickle juice from the jar after the pickles are gone. Something about the joy in the journey or valuing the process over the product, maybe. Whether you love it or hate it, we can all agree that pickle juice is good for you since it contains electrolytes including sodium, potassium, and magnesium. And, due to the aforementioned disabled body, I need a lot of them helpful electrolytes, and pickle juice is one of my all-time top picks. Get in my mouth, pickle juice!

Something I’m really proud of this week is getting this little Substack together and sending it out into the world! I’ve been dreaming of this space for a while, but I had a lot of resistance due to the fear of committing to a long-term project. Goal setting is hard for me because it feels too rigid, too binary, and sets off my already very strong tendency toward all-or-nothing thinking, which triggers my demand avoidance and drive for autonomy. Oof! I’ve only been able to finally do the dang thing and send this to you now because I’m intentionally practicing gentleness and constantly reminding myself that I get to set the intentions and as such, I can change them at any time. I aim to be “loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,” as Walt Whitman wrote. It really feels so good to finally put action to an idea. Very OOH LA LA!

I’m super intrigued by the experience of having a song randomly pop into your mind. It happens to me quite often, but this week I was especially delighted when this line popped into my head: “Skidamarink a-dink a-dink, Skidamarink a-doo.” Do you know that song? I have absolutely no idea where it came from before it entered my brain space, and isn’t that an incredible mystery? Bodies are wild, man! I still haven’t listened to the song since this happened, but I did learn that its origins date back to 1910 when it was written by Broadway lyricist Felix F. Feist and composer Al Piantadosi for the musical The Echo. Apparently, the words themselves are just silly gibberish, and I’m living for it.

Thanks so much for reading!

I’d love to know about your OOH LA LA! somethings. Reply to this email with 1-3 sentences about your current obsessions, passions, and pleasures. If you’re cool with me sharing your reply in a future post, include a note like “consent to share” in your email.

Cheers to finding the good!

XOXO,
LJ

from @hopehealingarts