#288: On cocooning, soul-stirring poems and life updates 🌱
Hello dear reader,
I totally fell out of the newsletter sending rhythm these past few weeks months, and in some ways, it was for the best. It feels like this whole year just swallowed me up. I’ve gone from project to project, hoping that the act of being so busy could prolong the many emotions I have been suppressing. I wished to be in a state of action, no matter how many loose ends were being tied up simultaneously.
Sure enough, burnout hit hard. While I’m still recovering from the intensity of it all, I’m also embracing the slow process of wintering. The gentle shutting down and cocooning. The yearning and planning for Hibernation mode later this month.
As Chef Julia Turshen said:
“It’s important to take care of yourself so you can better take care of the world.”
Poetry for the tired heart ✍🏼
What Are You Waiting For? by Kai Siedenburg
What powerful seeds
lie dormant
deep within you,
longing
to break through
the surface
and reach
their slender stems
toward the light?
What tender buds
are swelling
inside you,
yearning to unfurl
their radiant petals
and reveal their
hidden beauty?
What songs and stories
are swirling
deep within
your breast?
What wild
and magical dreams
are stirring your soul?
What are you
waiting for,
dear one?
The world is hungry
for your beauty,
calling you
to bring forth
your deepest gifts.Questions Before Dark – Jeanne Lohmann
Day ends, and before sleep
when the sky dies down, consider
your altered state: has this day
changed you? Are the corners
sharper or rounded off? Did you
live with death? Make decisions
that quieted? Find one clear word
that fit? At the sun’s midpoint
did you notice a pitch of absence,
bewilderment that invites
the possible? What did you learn
from things you dropped and picked up
and dropped again? Did you set a straw
parallel to the river, let the flow
carry you downstream?I Worried by Mary Oliver
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.I want to tell you something. This morning
is bright after all the steady rain, and every iris,
peony, rose, opens its mouth, rejoicing. I want to say,
wake up, open your eyes, there’s a snow-covered road
ahead, a field of blankness, a sheet of paper, an empty screen.
Even the smallest insects are singing, vibrating their entire bodies,
tiny violins of longing and desire. We were made for song.
I can’t tell you what prayer is, but I can take the breath
of the meadow into my mouth, and I can release it for the leaves’
green need. I want to tell you your life is a blue coal, a slice
of orange in the mouth, cut hay in the nostrils. The cardinals’
red song dances in your blood. Look, every month the moon
blossoms into a peony, then shrinks to a sliver of garlic.
And then it blooms again.
Life updates from here and there ❤️
Not showing up here for such a long time has resulted in me hoarding several life updates, which I’m delighted to finally share with all of you:
We launched Memories on a Plate at The Bookshop Inc., and it was all kinds of magical! Here’s a glimpse of the Potluck Poems we wrote together:
I’ve been a big fan of Broccoli Mag for years, and deeply admire the team’s world building / publication design approach. I even had a chance to interview the magazine’s designer Jennifer Wright for The Brand Identity.
I’m thrilled to share that an essay I wrote about my love for snail mail and Chitthi Exchange was published in Broccoli’s 20th (and final) Issue:
Memories on a Plate got featured in Locavore!
We’re grateful to Locavore for sharing the book’s story, along with excerpts from four of our contributors—Sneha Suresh, Shubhshree Mathur, Oorja Makkad, and Imdad Barbhuyan—on their relationships with food.
Make sure to also check out the recipe for Paati’s Kaimanam: Morkozhambu by Samyuktha KVS on their website!
Last but certainly not the least, in addition to The Alipore Post Postcard set, I’ve made a new tattoo set, Postcard From My Childhood for Anomalie Tattoo Co:
Rohini Recommends 📝
Watch: All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia (I love how the film navigates friendship, desire and loneliness so tenderly! Malayalam cinema FTW.)
Watch: All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) has generously extended access to their online showcase till December 15th (It’s free/pay-as-you-feel!)! Please send some time in the coming days discovering their superb curation of films. My personal faves so far: A Body Called Life by Spencer MacDonald and Shera by Arun Fulara.
Listen: Mysticeti Radio: songs for writing, roaming and everything in between
Observe: Winter blossoms around you…It’s Tabebuia season, y’all!
Write: Sign up for Kaha’s Christmas Post Exchange, and write someone a letter this Christmas! 💌
Experience: In case you’re in Bangalore, please go visit the many amazing events happening all around the city, put together by BLR Hubba.
Cook: I made a pretty darn delicious batch of marmalade this evening, and highly recommend trying it yourself. Here’s the recipe I followed.
Sending this out before I overthink / fall into a productivity slump again.
Have a warm and cozy December, friends.
Love and light,
Rohini
P.S. Christmas is nearly here. Make sure to treat yourself / your loved ones to a copy of Memories on a Plate. Ho, Ho, Ho? 🎅
It’s sweet to see your head pop out of your cocoon again but let the world take care of itself. Go back and have some toast and marmalade and some nice tea and come back out whenever you feel like it. Maybe have a little snooze. 🤷🏽IE
that poem about what seeds are in you, waiting to be unfurled really spoke to me. I feel the budding in my chest, waiting to be watered! thank you for sharing