The Gathering Basket: April Edition
What will the showers bring?
For Your Soul
Palimpsest
When the whiteboard has been cleaned, streaks remain.
Remnants of past problems never fully disappear.
Written over and over with each generation
Working out the kinks and making corrections.
When the calendar page flips, it is still imprinted
with grooves of the previous commitments.
Astute detective work could bring to light
appointments made, canceled, changed.
Pathways flatten the grass as feet
travel away from harsh cement,
while the grooves are worn into highways
by the ceaseless motion of humanity.
People may forget our words, our faces, our actions,
yet our presence can leave a feeling,
a palimpsest of our interaction
will leave a lasting impression.
~Caitlin Mallery
For Your Eyes
In the past month, I read two excellent books about rethinking some important subjects.
You Don't Need a Budget: Stop Worrying about Debt, Spend without Shame, and Manage Money with Ease by Dana Miranda. It breaks down the problems with budget culture, specifically for those of us who land on the poverty side of American capitalism. Currently, I am concerned about losing SNAP, and in the past six months, I have relied on the food bank for food and received state-level assistance with paying my electricity bill. I work three jobs, plus freelance writing, so trust me, budgeting is not the issue.
The other book, The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan Schafler, helps reframe perfectionism as a superpower. A therapist with years of working with high-achieving women has given her a positive view of how these women are a gift to the world. She breaks down perfectionism into different types, shows adaptive and maladaptive tendencies, and generally celebrates the gifts of perfectionists.
For Your Ears
Something about the moodiness of this album from Bon Iver is really fitting right now.
For Your Taste Buds
About this time of year (spring, nearing the end of the school year) I sort of lose creativity and inspiration when it comes to food. Seven months of sports and soups, casseroles, and crockpot dinners cooking loses its charm. I fall back onto my staples of burritos, rotisserie chicken, and mac’n’cheese. Given that children aren’t complaining, I suppose all is well.
For Your Nose
The lilacs will be blooming soon!
For Your Body
Getting on a bicycle is one of the delights of spring after months of snow.
The fact that this is so many people’s reality is sad.
I well remember those years of single-parenting when I worked full time, returned to college, lived off student loans, and labeled food so my son’s friends wouldn’t devour our meager rations.
My children grew up in lack but learned tenacity by watching me live it out. They are both thriving as adults with children and careers of their own.
You are modeling this for your children. What a gift they are receiving!