I love this piece, and have already forwarded it onto 8 other friends, and likely to more. Thank you, and warm wishes to you and your family. I had forgotten we have the same birthday....a few years apart😊. I’ll be singing happy birthday to you that day as I wash my hands.
What do I know about myself now that I didn't know ten months ago? What do I know about the people around me that I didn't know then? What do I know about love, about sorrow, about sacrifice, now, that I didn't see before?
What new muscle memory do I have for times of crisis?
Name one aspect of the more-than-human world that you became attuned to this year? I became attuned to rocks, what some indigenous tribes call grandfathers. They beckoned me as I walked through forests and lingered at the edges of lakes. I became especially attuned to a certain kind of dark, almost waxy rock whose hue I might call oxblood. I've looked through rock books and on the Interwebs, but I'm still not exactly sure what it is. Basalt? Whatever it is, we're friends now.
Thank you, Chris. This speaks to me. Although I have always loved trees, I became more attuned to them this year. I have lived in Washington state for six years, but this was the first summer I spent any amount of time on the Olympic Peninsula. I remember one afternoon in particular, sitting at my campsite on the banks of the Lyre River (yes, its real name), marveling at a towering tree and all the life upon life spiraling up its trunk. Like you, I am eager to learn the names if I can, yet that's less important than knowing they are kin of a kind.
I have a relationship with one particular hike now that I never had before. It's been my source of connection with friends, perspective (replaced looking out an airplane window), and getting solitude. Plus processing anger and grief. I know it so well.
Ours has been getting to know the quieter and some not so quiet faces of the ocean and surrounds in our new home....the tides especially King, the gifts often seasonal on the beach, the aviary visitors, the different waves and their draw for surfers, the fog, the breezes and the reassuring sounds saying all is well here.
Thank you, Courtney, for reaching out to us so many times with your thoughtful, insightful words of support. I hope you feel waves of support and deep appreciation flowing back to you.
I so appreciate you articulating for me the questions I have been asking myself. I have sent it out to many of my friends and colleagues who have also passed it out to many. My Zoom groups are setting up our next meetings to discuss some of the questions you present. Our big question as people in our 70's to add to your evocative list is: How have our priorities changed for spending our time and money because of this experience?
I have no additional questions. I just want to express gratitude to you, Courtney, for a year of gorgeous writing. Happy birthday, too.
I love this piece, and have already forwarded it onto 8 other friends, and likely to more. Thank you, and warm wishes to you and your family. I had forgotten we have the same birthday....a few years apart😊. I’ll be singing happy birthday to you that day as I wash my hands.
Barb! So grateful to share a birthday with you. xoxo
What do I know about myself now that I didn't know ten months ago? What do I know about the people around me that I didn't know then? What do I know about love, about sorrow, about sacrifice, now, that I didn't see before?
What new muscle memory do I have for times of crisis?
This last one is especially evocative, Susan. Thank you.
These are gorgeous. Thank you.
Name one aspect of the more-than-human world that you became attuned to this year? I became attuned to rocks, what some indigenous tribes call grandfathers. They beckoned me as I walked through forests and lingered at the edges of lakes. I became especially attuned to a certain kind of dark, almost waxy rock whose hue I might call oxblood. I've looked through rock books and on the Interwebs, but I'm still not exactly sure what it is. Basalt? Whatever it is, we're friends now.
Thank you, Chris. This speaks to me. Although I have always loved trees, I became more attuned to them this year. I have lived in Washington state for six years, but this was the first summer I spent any amount of time on the Olympic Peninsula. I remember one afternoon in particular, sitting at my campsite on the banks of the Lyre River (yes, its real name), marveling at a towering tree and all the life upon life spiraling up its trunk. Like you, I am eager to learn the names if I can, yet that's less important than knowing they are kin of a kind.
LOVE this. I think a reconnection with the natural world has been a HUGE part of many people's year. Certainly has been for us.
What's yours!?!
I have a relationship with one particular hike now that I never had before. It's been my source of connection with friends, perspective (replaced looking out an airplane window), and getting solitude. Plus processing anger and grief. I know it so well.
Ours has been getting to know the quieter and some not so quiet faces of the ocean and surrounds in our new home....the tides especially King, the gifts often seasonal on the beach, the aviary visitors, the different waves and their draw for surfers, the fog, the breezes and the reassuring sounds saying all is well here.
Thank you, Courtney, for reaching out to us so many times with your thoughtful, insightful words of support. I hope you feel waves of support and deep appreciation flowing back to you.
Thank you for a year of writing that both touched and sustained me this year. Such beautiful thinking.
A few more questions:
What shook up your snow globe / jar of confetti? What was a surprising joy?
What’s new in your bag of tricks that you’re carrying into 2021?
LOVE these. Thank you.
I so appreciate you articulating for me the questions I have been asking myself. I have sent it out to many of my friends and colleagues who have also passed it out to many. My Zoom groups are setting up our next meetings to discuss some of the questions you present. Our big question as people in our 70's to add to your evocative list is: How have our priorities changed for spending our time and money because of this experience?