Do you want more poetry?
Sometimes I share poetry here and I’ve been thinking maybe OOH LA LA! can be a place for pleasure, and poetry, and so much more.
Do you want more?
In general, I think more poetry is needed. “For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry,” as Mary Oliver wrote.
I think the same is true for practicing pleasure, for naming and celebrating joys. “It is a serious thing to be alive, on this fresh morning, in this broken world.” (Another Mary Oliver line). I didn’t intend to write on a theme this week, but as you’ll see, it’s all about water. I’m really obsessed with all of this, and I’m so glad you’re here.
At the end of this week’s list is a visual poem I adapted a couple of years ago. I would like to make more visual poems. What do you want? If you’re keen, reply to this email and let me know what you want!
This week’s OOH LA LA! list includes: shower thoughts, when the server fills up my glass of water, watching wind move across the Newton Creek.
A great big pleasure for me is having a long, uninterrupted shower where I can think and dream and sort out all of my life, or at least momentarily. The clarity of thought I have in the shower is unparalleled with other thinking times, though there’s no guarantee this will happen every shower. I know there are all sorts of shower-notebooks for purchase, designed to capture the shower thoughts one has while showering, but I’m not into that. I want the all at once free-flowing thoughts, brilliant ideas, and clear action items to come as they will.
When I’m dining at a restaurant, I feel so cared for when the server fills up my glass of water throughout the dinner, especially if it’s unprompted on my part. I have ADHD and sometimes struggle to stay hydrated throughout the because the task of getting up for more water when I’m in the middle of something is often difficult. But if there is water in front of me, I will gladly drink it, especially if I know more water is on its way before I’ve even finished the cup. Maybe there is a metaphor here about the abundance of the universe, about expecting the glass to be filled even when it’s nearing empty, about drinking it all up, or pouring it all out, and trusting more is coming. In any case, I’m grateful for having my cup filled.
I found a new spot near where I can sit and watch the wind move across the Newton Creek. This has become a favorite calming place because watching the ripples in the water makes my brain noise go quiet. I once read that watching water, even virtually, is a powerful coping method because water makes us feel wonder, makes us remember that we too are water, and that just like water we can be, as John O’Donohue wrote, “carried by the surprise of our own unfolding.”
Here’s to living like the river flows.
Thanks for reading!
I’d love to know - what is an OOH LA LA something you experienced or observed this week?
Reply to this email with 1-3 sentences about your current obsessions, passions, joys, and pleasures, or anything else you love!
XOXO,
LJ
