I hope this email never finds you.

Ok, I lied.

caption...

Ok I lied. I do actually hope this email found you. Then after reading it I hope you sail across an expanse beyond the thin grasp of human consciousness.

One thing to know about me?
I’m very good at sharing.

I like to send my favourite people inspiring shit I found out in the world. I think they like it. I mean, who doesn’t like that feeling of ‘saw this, thought of you?'

Dead people, that’s who.
 

And so, I share!

Experiences. Thoughts. Memes. Art. Books. Details. Screenshots. Songs. Life.

I like good and unusual and interesting things. I like when they become a gateway to something else.

I like them even better when someone else can discover them alongside me.

I guess sharing is one of my love languages.

And maybe that’s why I love the internet, because at its core isn’t it just one big show and tell factory? But the way we share is changing. There’s a shift. Don’t get me wrong I still love and always will love, The Internet, but the landscape of social media feels moved in a way I can’t always connect to.
 

It’s fast and fleeting, most of the time.
I’m more of a slow and committed kind of woman.

And so we return to the place the Internet began. No, not Steve Jobs' garage, but here - email!

................................................
 

Last year I listened to Priya Parker talk to Brene Brown about The Art of Gathering. In that podcast she talks about many valuable concepts around gathering and connection (irl and online) . A lot of the things she talked about stayed with me, but the main one was the idea of purpose in relation to gathering. Of connection requiring intention. It came back to me as I started to think about what my intention here is, with these emails.

The purpose of these email gatherings is to share with you.

To connect via sharing.

SHARE:

to use, occupy, or enjoy (something) jointly with another or others.

These won’t be traditional gatherings - we’re not physically together. I might not know you (yet). You may not know who else is reading. But there are currently 77 of us here, opening an email and getting curious. Looking for a connection. Wanting a juicy meme. Interested in something shared, and in the process of inspiration.

The form of that sharing here will vary. Sometimes written thoughts and ideas. Other times just visuals. Or maybe just a link list.

It's play, and I’m excited to see where we go together.

And whilst I love to share, I also like to be shared with. So please accept that as an open invitation to share things right back ( I particularly love photos of book pages, FYI).

Shares for the week:

Read:

Admission - I'd never read any Ali Smith until last month. I don't know why. Sometimes I just hate to be doing what the cool kids are doing. I rectified this blemish in my character by reading Autumn, the first in a quad of her seasonally titled series, which starts as Brexit hits the UK. I liked it until the last third, when that like turned to consuming love. Something shifted, I connected, and the prose just settled somewhere deep inside my chest. I read for the duration of a two hour flight and didn't want to stop, despite Italy waiting for me outside the plane. Praise!

The Midnight Library, Matt Haig. Hmmm. I loved the premise of this book so much. Totally my type on paper. I'm someone who absolutely believes in parallel lives and so this could have been perfect... but it fell a little short, it felt a little basic *shocked face emoji*. Super easy to read though, and I did want to follow where it went.. very 'inspirational IG quote' at its core.

Rachel casually FLOORED me with her newsletter this week, about the times she feels beautiful. It made me want to write my own list of times I feel beautiful, too. Can we all write a list please? I felt beautiful reading it, that's for damn sure. You're signed up right?

"I feel beautiful when I am well rested, but I also feel beautiful late at night around a campfire with friends as I watch the light flicker on their faces and think “my god, they are beautiful.” And that's when I think, I bet I look beautiful right now too. And after I think that, I feel it-- the beauty part. 
 
I feel beautiful when I've been drinking lots of water and also when I have had two drinks. I start feeling less beautiful at three and absolutely do not care about how beautiful or not beautiful I am anywhere past four.
 
I feel beautiful after I have had sex, particularly if it was in the daytime and if it was good. I also feel beautiful when I want to have sex.
 
I wonder if I'm objectively the most beautiful when I'm ovulating, which even I know is a ridiculous thing to wonder because beauty doesn't fuck with objectivity. But I would still like to know if anyone has done research on this subject. I would like to read it if they have."

Rachel Larsen Weaver

Listen:

I've been very much enjoying the latest from James Blake. Funeral, specifically. 

My relationship with Russell continues like an illicit affair that I'm slightly ashamed of whilst also being ridiculously turned on by. Oh lol. This episode of his podcast (behind the paywall on Luminary, but excerpt below) with economist Anwar Sheik discusses what exactly Capitalism is, and what the world might look like without it. A brilliant episode that really pointed to the fact that we really have no clue what a post capitalist world might be... but that we'll probably need some foundational spirituality to get us there. And maybe a revolution. Russell Brand on Capitalism

A podcast that celebrates what each month has for us to look forward to. Get in the November mood with 20 minutes of loveliness.

Look:

And on that note... 'til next time babes!

Lx