OOH LA LA! #11

I feel like caterpillar soup and I'm sending you a voice message

I can’t stop thinking about caterpillars and how they become butterflies. In elementary school, we did an observational study. We were taught the stages of metamorphosis - how a larva becomes a pupa, how a chrysalis is formed - as if the miracle of reinvention could somehow be contained in my brain as a simple fact.

Here’s what happens: during evolution, a caterpillar's body tissue BREAKS DOWN and REFORMS into the wings, legs, and other parts and we’re all just cool with that?! You’re telling me a caterpillar is born with the cellular information to become a butterfly and to get there it has to become a puddle of liquid mush in a silky cocoon for weeks and weeks and we’re all just walking around with this info with our eyes on the ground?!

You’re telling me that a caterpillar has to DIGEST ITSELF?!! and if you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out?!! Do we know if a caterpillar has consciousness of its soup form and its future state? Does a butterfly remember when it was first a fuzzy leaf-crawling binge eater?

I have so many questions.

The truth is, there’s a lot I don’t know, but I think maybe we’re missing out on a lot of magic every single day, and maybe, just maybe, if we can name the OOH LA LA moments, we would be more awake to them.

The truth is, I feel like caterpillar soup right now, but remembering cocoons and how a chrysalis becomes a new beautiful thing makes me feel hopeful that something wonderful is up ahead.

This week’s OOH LA LA! list includes: an open-air vibrating sound bath, sending voice messages back and forth to my friends, my new water bottle.

Ok, I’m not trying to be redundant but I can’t stop thinking about all the invisible energies and forces that exist just beyond our perception. There’s so much we can’t see that exists alongside us! On Tuesday, I was walking around when suddenly the entire atmosphere was enveloped in an open-air vibrating sound bath. Because I couldn’t at first see the two musicians who were the source of the sound, I wondered whether I was dreaming or having some psychic moment. If sound waves were visible, the entire sidewalk in Soho would have been filled with pulsing rainbow blobs turning all the people into shades of pink and blue. Think about that!

I’ve become obsessed with sending voice messages back and forth to my friends. The idea is simple: go to text message and send a voice note, sharing ordinary moments and thoughts from the day. One of my friends calls this practice “dear diary,” because it’s sort of unplanned, stream-of-consciousness sharing. All week, I’ve been walking around the city and riding the train listening to my friends talk about their to-do lists like buying a shower curtain or booking a flight, and in between, sharing beautiful vulnerabilities and wisdoms that help me feel more connected and less alone. I’m now fully convinced we ALL need this practice!

(I even recorded a voice message just for you!)

If you have ADHD like me, you’ll likely understand what I mean when I say my new water bottle is changing my life. Look, I know it’s a bold statement, but after a highly researched investigative search through numerous forums and review pages outlining the different features of comparable products, I’m proud to say I found and purchased an Owala bottle. Yes, sure, it’s true I have an existing water bottle collection, but right now, this new one is giving me dopamine and keeping me hydrated and I think that is something to celebrate. (This is not sponsored, but it really should be. I should get on that.)

And now some OOH LA LA lists from you…

Renee: My joy from this week is showering. And specifically the amazing rain shower from our vacation I got to relish the past several days. It is the one place where there are no expectations. I am able to soak in the warmth of the water as my mind travels to places that are otherwise distracted by my typical surroundings: Which child needs my attention? What chores need done? What calls or emails do I need to respond to? Nine square feet of paradise. I have been realizing what a luxury simply bathing can be when there are so many people who do not have access to something as simple as this. So my small joy this week is the water that falls onto my head and provides a cleansing, both physically and emotionally.

Cory: I just saw a Norther Flicker at my bird feeder. It looks like a larger, less colorful red-bellied woodpecker until it flaps around and you see brilliant yellow feathers hiding under its wings and tails.

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 and why you love it, or send me a poem, a photo, or a voice note!

XO,
LJ

Here’s a short video I recorded of the sound bath in Soho: