Good Morning!
Happy day! We woke up and are still here. I read my friend’s
substack the other day that spoke to exactly how I’ve been feeling- I think you should read it too!snippet here:
I’m in a battle with myself over who’s in charge of my attitude. Is it cynical/angry/sad me or is it goofy/creative/hopeful me? You’d think that would be an easy one, but every day is a struggle. There are very real, very monstrous things in the world that are contributing to my negative outlook — genocide in Gaza, the rise of fascism and racist ICE kidnappings in the U.S., the stripping away of women’s rights and trans peoples’ rights, unbridled and unregulated corporate greed sucking our collective will to live, gosh am I missing anything? Those things will be there when I go to sleep tonight and when I wake up tomorrow, and so will my rage and despair. But this newsletter, and any small good thing that I can do, is actually within my control. My attitude* can be too, but only if I feed my soul with goofy/creative/hopeful things.
*Note: I don’t mean that my attitude needs to be sUpEr PoSiTiVe in order to fight back against these fuckwads. No no, in that case, the rage is useful and obviously warranted. I mean that my mental rolodex of what-ifs needs to leave room for the hopeful, equitable and just future that I believe is possible, purely so that I can ride that half a spark of dopamine long enough to function at my job, feed myself, and be a good friend.
So in the name of all that is good in the world, I need to access some fucking whimsy again or I’m going to lose my mind.
Let’s access some fucking whimsy shall we?!
One of my other friends, you have met, is someone that values the whimsy (in the form of obscure celebrity gossip, nostalgia and Oprah’s favorite things, unnecessarily tiny things, funny dogs and so much) and she is hosting an event THIS WEEK (Sunday 9/7) where we can all celebrate both our silly and sentimental memories. This friend is Jaime Cooke, a fellow writer and friend of OB, remember her fun podcast episode? Reminding you!
Have you ever heard of the great televised Antiques Roadshow? Do you remember joyfully agonizing about what to write your personal essay about the first week school starts after summer break? Have you ever spotted the most perfect souvenir when you weren’t looking for it and every time you see it on your fridge, or in your jewelry box, or hanging on the wall it makes you smile thinking about that one trip you took?
The perfect place to share those moments amongst friends with delightful beverage in hand, is at Show and Tell hosted by Jaime at Crystal Lake (647 Grand St!)
Details on this fun flyer below!
I can’t wait to see what everyone brings to share and just hang with our extended Open Book fam at a venue that is so excited to have us in their space. (More on that later! Stay tuned!!!)
If you are able to make it RSVP here ! Bring a friend, bring a treasure, bring your stories. See you there!
Happy Reading/Writing!
B.Dots/Open Book