link jamz, vol. 3
here's what's getting me through a heavy week
Hey friend. It’s been another week.
Somehow it’s September, and the pandemic that was manageable and even a bit comical months ago has now turned into full-blown loneliness crisis. Some weeks feel like progressive steps forward in our country’s reckoning with our racist past and others, there are new names to learn and add to the list of Black folk unjustifiably killed just for being what they were born as. Literal heroes (RIP, Chadwick Boseman) continue to be taken too soon, and the unwelcome and rapid adjustment to life at home has passed through enough time to be revered, eventually relished, and now bitterly conformed to as the new normal rages on with no clear end in sight.
Let me also state how truly privileged I am to be able to be working from home every day and complaining about it, a safety (and complaint) not afforded to everyone.
But taking things day by day has taken on a whole new meaning, and I personally have been leaning towards this one from Palm Springs,
So, this is today, today is yesterday, and tomorrow is also today.
So here, today (yesterday?), I’m sharing what’s gotten me through this week.
What I’m reading
On witness and respair: a personal tragedy followed by a pandemic by Jesmyn Ward. Novelist Ward takes us through her grief after losing her husband at the beginning of COVID, and how through her despair she finds the power to speak for those who cannot any longer.
Even in a pandemic, even in grief, I found myself commanded to amplify the voices of the dead that sing to me, from their boat to my boat, on the sea of time.
The psychology of the breathtakingly stupid mistake by David Z Hambrick. Is it too honest to say that I identify a bit too well with these people?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but the illustrated version done by Jim Kay. A truly delightful escape to be re-reading the series in this beautiful form, thanks to Slaine and Jason.
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi. I’ve been using this book as a guide for a self-driven course, reading it slowly, purposefully, and diving into google after every chapter to deepen and expand my knowledge. It’s been instrumental in understanding not just my place as a white-passing ally, but in doing the hard and uncomfortable work of breaking down where I have had, or even currently hold, racist ideas that I may not even recognize.
What I’m learning
How to run for local elections. If you can’t beat ‘em, join them — and make change from the inside.
How to add more play to your grown-up life by Kristen Wong.
Play requires you to ditch the limiting, binary way we think about our feelings, Mr. Harry added. In other words, we have to let go of the idea that we can’t feel both playful in the moment and anxious about the state of the world. The idea isn’t to ignore your negative feelings but to give yourself permission to feel joy alongside the negativity.
What I’m listening to
The Cut’s podcast is back, and this was one of my favorite nuggets from their return episode:
AVERY: How do you do that magic thing you do? You’ve experienced some really bad stuff in your life. And you’ve still been able to turn it around. How do you think other people can learn to do that?
LA’DARIUS: I feel like you can learn how to do that when you take it for what it is. You look at the issue for just that, an issue, an inconvenience. Because the world is just going to be the world. Baby, do what makes you happy. Even if people don’t understand. If your job ain’t making you happy, quit. Your man ain’t making you happy, leave. If your woman ain’t making you happy, leave. Everyone is worth more than that.
What I’m watching
My obsession with Keke Palmer has grown into a full blown love affair. I’ve watched this video seven times this week alone and now can’t stop telling my roommate that I want a club sandwich.
If you’re single and not downloading then deleting then re-downloading dating apps onto your phone, then I don’t know you and honestly, you terrify me.
Players gonna play
Y’all been sending me some kind words and I don’t deserve them. Thank you for the love.
A Michael Scott moment
Meet Angus!
Next week
Honestly, let’s see how we’re feeling to gauge what to share next week. Send me what’s been keeping you sane, happy, laughing, or even just getting you out of bed in the morning.
These are soooo goood Ju!!! Engaging, always make me chuckle, and messages that really really resonate.
I made it without having to admit any and all of the times I’ve played myself. I’m absolutely gobsmacked.