Viva Italia and other on brand vibes

Hey friends, I’m back after a couple of weeks off and, boy oh boy, did I live a lot of life. Here’s one pic from the trip that feels like it sums up the vibes pretty well…

I’ve been thinking about sharing more about John and my ridiculous meet cute story in Italy, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I’ve got a bunch of things live this week and last that I wanted to share with you:

1. Our Slate podcast—How To!—is nominated for a Webby Award! I’ve been co-hosting with the amazing Carvell Wallace (who has a new memoir coming out that you should definitely pre-order!) since last September and it’s been a total joy to learn this new craft, explore so many meaningful topics with so many huge-hearted guests, and work with such an amazing team. We’re up against Michelle Obama and Sarah Silverman, so I’m pretty sure we have no chance in hell of winning, but it’s very flattering. You can vote, if you’re so inclined, here. And if you ever have a question you’d like to explore with on the show, don’t hesitate to reach out. Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001.

   

2. Speaking of the pod, we’ve got a new episode out this week that we worked really hard on. It’s intended for White listeners, primarily, and is an exploration of how to talk with other White people about race without being a righteous a-hole—such a progressive trap these days. You guessed it—it features the wisdom of my friend Garrett Bucks, who I am doing a live, online book club with this Friday. Sign up here! It’s free and it will be fun to learn from everyone in the room.

   

3. I was recently a guest on someone else’s podcast—called Speaking Human-First—and it was such an honoring, refreshing, and searching conversation. Here’s a link in case you all want to hear me think out loud about my work, the nature of community, and how we all bumble towards alignment. Thanks to host Mary Knox Miller for being so generous and thoughtful. Listen here.

4. I wrote “Ten Lessons in Neighborliness from a Cohousing Community” for the Greater Good Science Center and it’s got all kinds of nourishing little ideas in it. Here’s a taste:

   Neighborliness is for introverts, too. Quite often when I tell people that I live in co-housing, they are thrilled and say, “Why doesn’t everyone live this way?” But sometimes I get a far different reaction: “I’m an introvert. I think cohousing would drive me crazy.” The surprising truth is this: because cohousing is structured and intentionally attentive to different kinds of personality types, introverts thrive here. No one is expected to be social all the time, and we all know one another well enough to know who the introverts and extroverts are, and who is a mix of the two. Being neighborly doesn’t mean being chatty. Ideally, it means being in relationships deep enough that you know what feels good and what feels invasive to the people around you.

   The tiny things add up to a big feeling of mutuality. How many times have we shared our milk across the backyard fence because our neighbor, Sarah, needed some for her morning coffee and sent a text message SOS? I can’t count. The other day her husband Jon came around with a gallon of milk for us as a sort of accumulated thank-you, so we had one less trip to the grocery store that week. The support is as small as a cup of milk, but the overall feeling of being physically close to people who can make your life easier, safer, and sweeter is huge.

   Read the whole thing here.

   

5. I’ve got a couple of cool in-person things coming up. The first is something I announced awhile back—I’m hosting three nights of film and conversation at our cohousing community with some neighbors about climate change called The Week. I’m hoping to write about the experience so I’ll share more about where the shared space takes us. If you’d like to host your own gathering, please do! It’s an open-source thing created by the amazing writer and thinker, Frederic Laloux, who I was lucky enough to meet last month for lunch, and his wife, Helene Gerin.

6. Finally, you might remember my conversation with Christie George, creator of The Emergency was Curiosity — a book report/love letter/exhibit/invitation for presence and amateur creativity. In any case, if you’re in the Bay Area, please join us at The Ruby for an in-person conversation and dance party next Thursday, April 25th. It’s going to be so fun.

   

What cool things are you up to—either online or in person? Feel free to plug all of your amazing work in the chat. I love learning about what Examined Family readers are up to.