OOH LA LA! #7
eating the edges off a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
You ever just laugh so much or so hard that you feel hopeful about the world again? I know there’s loads of bad stuff happening all the time and right on my street. I heard about a bunch of young women getting punched in the face this week while walking around New York City and when you hear stuff like that, it’s easy for the world to feel scary and not very hope-filled.
But then I went on a walk by the river with a friend and we talked about ideas and laughed and I felt good. I went to a live performance and felt inspired. I called a friend and felt seen. That’s what this OOH LA LA! practice feels like to me too. A communal laughing walk by the river. Still, life has some possibility left.* Wishing this for all of us.
This week’s OOH LA LA! list includes: “Chasing Pavements,” Adele’s hit song from her 2008 album, 19, my new galaxy star projector, and eating the edges off a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg.
I was in a bodega browsing the beverage section on Wednesday and then I was in my South Akron, Ohio in my college friend’s apartment, drinking wine out of coffee cups and painting abstract canvases on the floor. This happened all in an instant because in the bodega they were playing “Chasing Pavements,” Adele’s hit song from her 2008 album, 19. It’s magic to me, how music and art can be portals to another time and space. It’s so multidimensional, both then and now, happening all at once.
It’s safe to say my main source of dopmaine this week is from my new galaxy star projector. I finally purchased one after eyeing them online forever. The experience of watching the colors swirl and twirl and transform on the ceiling while green stars intermittently flood my living room feels like a brain massage. If you’re a friend with whom I was corresponding this week, you likely received a photo of my star projector. I’m including one for you this week too. I know you’ll be in awe when you see it.
It’s not often I get my hands on a milk chocolate snack, but when I spotted the spring candy near the checkout at CVS, I knew I had to say yes to the opportunity. Despite the risk of an IBS flare, for 99 cents, I got 3 full minutes of joy. First step is to unwrap the yellow rectangle packaging and pull out the white tray wherein the candy has been delicately swaddled. Next step is to smell the chocolate and get a sense of the peanut butter. It’s a full sensory journey. Finally, my favorite part is eating the edges off the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg. I take off all the sides and then the top and bottom until just the peanut butter nugget remains. It’s a true practice of indulgence and so OOH LA LA!
Thanks for reading!
I’d love to know about your OOH LA LA! somethings. Share in the communal laughing walk by the river.
Reply to this email with 1-3 sentences about your current obsessions, passions, and pleasures and why you love it. It feels good!
XOXO,
LJ
*Here’s a bonus poem for the week - a reminder about joy by Mary Oliver
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don't Hesitate).” - Mary Oliver
