Focus, Focus, Hocus, Pocus
Conserving energy and some optimism for the End of October
Your focus and time spent reading this are much appreciated.
A long time ago there was a perfume oil I liked from the Body Shop called Focus. I had it and wore it along with Ananya for about a year, maybe around the time I was 16 or 17. Focus seemed like such a abstract word at the time; it had no meaning for me other than something other people needed. Now, focus is one of most coveted aspects of improving my life along with a good night of sleep, a balance of delicious and nutritious food and consistent exercise.
Kate McDermott’s “The Quiet Time is Coming” reminded me of a conversation I had with my daughter over breakfast. She said she loves sitting indoors around this time of the year, being cozy, the entire lifestyle of hygge and settling in while the darkness pushes away the days of heat and light. She’s my brilliant and lovely girl cat and I’ve always felt content knowing she’s happy to do her own thing. Candles, blankets, tea, movies and books. Knitting with her friend on a park bench on a break. Memorizing chemistry flash cards along with drinking a new favorite tea. I enjoy it too.
I stopped to take this on the way to pick Zane up last year. I read a snarky line—”Netflix is joining forces with TED Talks to launch a daily word game that you will presumably play while not really paying attention to whatever Netflix show you have on in the background.”—and it basically gave me the theme for this newsletter today. How many layers of attention do I have, and what do I do with those layers of attention? In an idealized world I’d write or draw in the evening, every evening, but the sedation of phone scrolling while background noise drones on is so easy. I’ve found that the main way for me to conquer this is to go out, bake something new or pump myself up for an activity at home I keep putting off for no reason other than lack of inertia. I’m trying to get more consistent with not just doing the easy thing.
I went to my first fireside chat at the SF Commons to listen to Mark Farrell speak about what he’ll do for the City of San Francisco as Mayor. I’m familiar with the need to defend this beautiful city (number one comment when moving here was “You’re moving *in* to the city?!”) and even had more than one person tell me “you’re going the wrong way” (referring to moving from Seattle to SF and not the other way around). But over the past year I can earnestly say that things are getting better and perhaps there’s too much media attention on the negatives, not a balance of good and bad.
I randomly found out about Maker Faire a day too late. That’s typical for me now because there’s so much going on that I want to do and experience. However after a few minutes of rabbit-holing about attendees I found out about Celeste. Celeste is a blacksmith based out of Richmond, CA and totally gives me a metal-working-is-super-cool vibe. I would love to commission something (metal sculpture? a custom hand shovel?) for my garden someday.
Love your illustration as always! Your posts are always such refreshing and relaxing reads. They feel like sipping a perfect cup of tea in front of a garden view.