I love that your sculpture was still standing Jocelyn. Maybe the bulldozer driver drove around it. Thanks for this drive down memory lane, I loved going to Santa Cruz and Monterey when I lived in Silicon Valley.
Me too! And I'm pretty sure they did. It was right in their path and they were doing the entire beach. I think they purposely left it, which is just another beautiful thing, isn't it?
“Hope thrives on possibilities. So do we.” What a great quote! Imagining possibilities is made possible only through hope. I have to admit, I read authors like you so that I can get a bit of a rest from the crushing weight of the world. We get it. The beingness of just being on a beach, building a sculpture, my gosh that sounds so delicious right now. I remember reading that article about Pamela Anderson, Demi Moore, and Arianna Grande pointing out the cruelty of judging simply based on outward appearance and the hope that it will change someday. So many things to hope for friend. While my grander hopes are distant requiring large scale change, I hope for the smaller things, satisfied to drink from that straw now and then just to keep that hope muscle flexing. This is a beautiful piece, Jocelyn, thank you.
The straw of small hopes that lead to greater change. I love that.
This, friend, made my day, “I read authors like you so that I can get a bit of a rest from the crushing weight of the world.”
Both that you read my work for that reason and that you said author! I always think of authors as people who’ve written and published a book. But I think that distinction is just on my head and it felt powerful to be called an author. I think it’s like when I started owning the word writer.
I love the idea of you and Andrea building an art sculpture on the beach. And sitting feet in sand just being. That feels symbolic to me too in such a big and sacred way.
I don't have a bucket list but I do have a whole lot of hope-fors. We love the central coast so San Gregorio is definitely a big hope. I hear you about the word author, and even the word, writer. When people ask me what I do with my days, I always say running first but I've noticed writing is not a distant second anymore, it's always included in the same sentence. Jocelyn, I love connecting with people who get it, that see the oneness in everything and put importance into that belief. This is why you're one of my favorite authors.❤️
Your writing always calms my nervous system down, Jocelyn, even though I found myself holding my breath, hoping (yes, hoping) that your sculpture would survive (hooray!). This line: "The kind of hope I've been praying for is God-sized hope. That is to say, I don't want to drink it politely from a straw, I want to open up the faucet and let it gush from the hose so that I can slurp it up, pour it on my head, bathe in the deliciousness of it." Oh my goodness, the embodiment of that beautiful sentence! And then this, this, this (of course!): "I found another beach just down the road. I read. I swam. I napped. I watched dogs unleashed run and run and run.
And I thought: maybe play can save us. Maybe joy. Maybe hope."
I am dreaming your dream with you, that we can build something sturdy and sublime after the current bulldozing is through (and yes, please let it end.) Thank you for always showing up with such honesty.
Oh that is just the biggest compliment, Kendall. Thank you! I'm so glad you liked the hose line. I did too! This essay seemed maybe less visceral than most of mine and I wanted the pieces that were embodied to really resonate, so thank you for that close read.
And thank you for saying out loud that you're dreaming with me. I think that is so deeply powerful. The more we dream what we want to live, the more we can make it true. I am not just being head in the clouds when I say we need hope and love to overcome this. I really believe, no, I know, that worry and fear are only going to fuel the fire of the bulldozer. (I believe I may have a new nickname for this administration.)
I always love your comments, so thank you thank you for taking the time to be here with me. I read your pebble post and I loved it! I must go back and comment. I'll see you over there. xoxox
This was such a delight to read, Jocelyn. The joy and playfulness on the beach lit me up! And creating a solid structure in collaboration from things adrift – there is hope there for sure.
Tracey, thank you! I love love love that this lit you up! Yes!! We need that anywhere and anyhow we can get it. That makes my day. "Collaboration from things adrift" This is gorgeous, Tracey, just gorgeous. Together in hope. xoxox❤️
Oh how fun! I'm glad it felt that way. And it's so great how life provides these metaphors! I couldn't have made up a better one. ;) Do you get to the beach by your step-daughter's much? I love a weathered beach with a mess of seaweed and driftwood. xo
I loved this. Thank you. As I prepare this week to go on a 2 month trip with my family, I hold hope. Mostly, to not miss it by falling back to patterns from home. I want to throw my phone in an ocean and not look back. Of course, I won't. But I hope (I will!) turn it on much less. Write in a journal. Read. Take memory photos. I have decided to leave my laptop at home. Radical decision. And with this, I hope to live more. I am exhausted. I think many of us are. On call, on the run, on, on, on all the time. Always available. May I have the will (I will!) to shut down all that does not serve every NOW of this trip and make myself truly available to my family, myself, life. Packing my hope. Thank you again. 💕
Oh my. I just wrote you the longest reply and then poof! all gone. Sigh.
Okay, so I love love love that you want to throw your phone in an ocean. Me too. Me too. I am working at using it less. I deleted my FB and IG the other day (I was never but never on them, but they still existed and it made me feel gross). I've deleted my shopping apps. I got a silent sunlight-alarm clock and i LOVE it!
Sometimes on the weekend, I don't turn my phone on and pretend it doesn't exist. It's funny, when I go to turn it on, I feel kind of queasy sometimes, like I just don't want it yelling at me. I want the constant inflow of information to stop. And Danni, my phone doesn't make any noise lol, at most it vibrates, but all those little red circles with the number of messages, slacks, substacks, linkedins to attend to. Sigh. So yes, I'm exhausted too. I think you're right, we all are.
A 100% radical decision that i adore. No laptop. For two months. That feels dreamy. This is such a beautiful gift to yourself if presence and attention, rest and even maybe if you're lucky...boredom!
You've inspired me. I want to create space in my life to be bored. At the very least to not be busy busy busy. You've inspired me to ask myself what do I not need? How much can I pare down so I can create more quiet time in my life to do nothing?
Thank you so much for this, Danni!
When do you leave? Where are you going? (If you feel like sharing)
Hate when that happens. The poof!’ Thanks for taking the time to rewrite this. I really appreciate it. Boredom, yes! Having my hand hurt bc of writing on paper. Or Not writing maybe. Yes and yes! Looking thru easy, rested, alert eyes, yes!!! I am not using FB or IG these days too much. A post here and there that gets hardly any response anyway. I know the feeling you mean with turning the phone back on. I just am realizing more and more how much it is taking away from me. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically it feels like fireworks in my hand and heart. Not good. And yesterday while looking around, I got so sad. Everyone is on their phone. Of course, I already knew. Noticed so many times in the past. But it was one of those moments when it hits you deep. Groups of friends even. Not only kids. Everyone looking down. Nobody intetacting. On the street. Waiting for bushes. In the caffè and at dinner in the restaurant. Horrible. So yes… no laptop. Will use my husband’s only to continue my online yoga lesson with my 2 students. And as little phone as possible. Substack, haven’t decided yet if I will try to publish from my phone. Maybe short stuff. We are going to Costa Rica. Probably Nicaragua and Panama. And then a few weeks to visit my parents in Florida at the end. We are excited bc it has been a while since all 4 of us travelled for a lengthy time together and CR is home for us. Both my daughters were born there. Thank you for this connection. It is the only reason I am here on this darn thing. Love and more love. 🩷 ❤️
Your daughters were born in CR! I lived there for a decade. In tamarindo! Central America is the best place to unplug. Nica and Panama are spectacular too. Where were you in CR and when? I was there in the aughts.
Maybe do a batch of posts for substack? Can we schedule posts here? lol? Or maybe just take a sabbatical. Or only Post once a month. I think the key is unplugging however that feels right for you.
And what you said about fireworks! Yes! That’s it!
This space has been the only social media I’ve ever been able to bear, much less look forward to. Sometimes, well most of the time, it still feels Ike a lot. But there’s so much love and goodness here. Like this conversation. It’s worth it to me. Now only if we could get rid of the phones…❤️ (which I’m typing on right now bc I’m at a conference and I didn’t ring my laptop)🤔
Reading this reminded me of how often I’ve seen a little patch of wildflowers in the median or by roadsides, mowed around by mowers who could have just chopped them down and didn’t. 🌼
I love that your sculpture was still standing Jocelyn. Maybe the bulldozer driver drove around it. Thanks for this drive down memory lane, I loved going to Santa Cruz and Monterey when I lived in Silicon Valley.
Me too! And I'm pretty sure they did. It was right in their path and they were doing the entire beach. I think they purposely left it, which is just another beautiful thing, isn't it?
“Hope thrives on possibilities. So do we.” What a great quote! Imagining possibilities is made possible only through hope. I have to admit, I read authors like you so that I can get a bit of a rest from the crushing weight of the world. We get it. The beingness of just being on a beach, building a sculpture, my gosh that sounds so delicious right now. I remember reading that article about Pamela Anderson, Demi Moore, and Arianna Grande pointing out the cruelty of judging simply based on outward appearance and the hope that it will change someday. So many things to hope for friend. While my grander hopes are distant requiring large scale change, I hope for the smaller things, satisfied to drink from that straw now and then just to keep that hope muscle flexing. This is a beautiful piece, Jocelyn, thank you.
The straw of small hopes that lead to greater change. I love that.
This, friend, made my day, “I read authors like you so that I can get a bit of a rest from the crushing weight of the world.”
Both that you read my work for that reason and that you said author! I always think of authors as people who’ve written and published a book. But I think that distinction is just on my head and it felt powerful to be called an author. I think it’s like when I started owning the word writer.
I love the idea of you and Andrea building an art sculpture on the beach. And sitting feet in sand just being. That feels symbolic to me too in such a big and sacred way.
San Gregorio always has driftwood. 😉
I don't have a bucket list but I do have a whole lot of hope-fors. We love the central coast so San Gregorio is definitely a big hope. I hear you about the word author, and even the word, writer. When people ask me what I do with my days, I always say running first but I've noticed writing is not a distant second anymore, it's always included in the same sentence. Jocelyn, I love connecting with people who get it, that see the oneness in everything and put importance into that belief. This is why you're one of my favorite authors.❤️
Your writing always calms my nervous system down, Jocelyn, even though I found myself holding my breath, hoping (yes, hoping) that your sculpture would survive (hooray!). This line: "The kind of hope I've been praying for is God-sized hope. That is to say, I don't want to drink it politely from a straw, I want to open up the faucet and let it gush from the hose so that I can slurp it up, pour it on my head, bathe in the deliciousness of it." Oh my goodness, the embodiment of that beautiful sentence! And then this, this, this (of course!): "I found another beach just down the road. I read. I swam. I napped. I watched dogs unleashed run and run and run.
And I thought: maybe play can save us. Maybe joy. Maybe hope."
I am dreaming your dream with you, that we can build something sturdy and sublime after the current bulldozing is through (and yes, please let it end.) Thank you for always showing up with such honesty.
Oh that is just the biggest compliment, Kendall. Thank you! I'm so glad you liked the hose line. I did too! This essay seemed maybe less visceral than most of mine and I wanted the pieces that were embodied to really resonate, so thank you for that close read.
And thank you for saying out loud that you're dreaming with me. I think that is so deeply powerful. The more we dream what we want to live, the more we can make it true. I am not just being head in the clouds when I say we need hope and love to overcome this. I really believe, no, I know, that worry and fear are only going to fuel the fire of the bulldozer. (I believe I may have a new nickname for this administration.)
I always love your comments, so thank you thank you for taking the time to be here with me. I read your pebble post and I loved it! I must go back and comment. I'll see you over there. xoxox
This was such a delight to read, Jocelyn. The joy and playfulness on the beach lit me up! And creating a solid structure in collaboration from things adrift – there is hope there for sure.
Tracey, thank you! I love love love that this lit you up! Yes!! We need that anywhere and anyhow we can get it. That makes my day. "Collaboration from things adrift" This is gorgeous, Tracey, just gorgeous. Together in hope. xoxox❤️
Play + Sand + Salt + Hope is a recipe for something yummy
oooooooohhh I love this so much. I feel like that's a t-shirt or a bumper sticker. xoxox
I’d rock it!!
Me too!!
Oh my gosh, Jocelyn. This is a most gorgeous piece of writing! Thank you. Hope and play. Yes, may they save us in the end. ❤️
Oh Beth, Thank you for that! I hoped it would resonate. I'm so grateful to know it did! xoxox
This looks like the beach near our step-daughter's home. Wonderful, wise, and uplifting story, Jocelyn. Love the metaphor of the bulldozer...spot on.
Oh how fun! I'm glad it felt that way. And it's so great how life provides these metaphors! I couldn't have made up a better one. ;) Do you get to the beach by your step-daughter's much? I love a weathered beach with a mess of seaweed and driftwood. xo
I loved this. Thank you. As I prepare this week to go on a 2 month trip with my family, I hold hope. Mostly, to not miss it by falling back to patterns from home. I want to throw my phone in an ocean and not look back. Of course, I won't. But I hope (I will!) turn it on much less. Write in a journal. Read. Take memory photos. I have decided to leave my laptop at home. Radical decision. And with this, I hope to live more. I am exhausted. I think many of us are. On call, on the run, on, on, on all the time. Always available. May I have the will (I will!) to shut down all that does not serve every NOW of this trip and make myself truly available to my family, myself, life. Packing my hope. Thank you again. 💕
Oh my. I just wrote you the longest reply and then poof! all gone. Sigh.
Okay, so I love love love that you want to throw your phone in an ocean. Me too. Me too. I am working at using it less. I deleted my FB and IG the other day (I was never but never on them, but they still existed and it made me feel gross). I've deleted my shopping apps. I got a silent sunlight-alarm clock and i LOVE it!
Sometimes on the weekend, I don't turn my phone on and pretend it doesn't exist. It's funny, when I go to turn it on, I feel kind of queasy sometimes, like I just don't want it yelling at me. I want the constant inflow of information to stop. And Danni, my phone doesn't make any noise lol, at most it vibrates, but all those little red circles with the number of messages, slacks, substacks, linkedins to attend to. Sigh. So yes, I'm exhausted too. I think you're right, we all are.
A 100% radical decision that i adore. No laptop. For two months. That feels dreamy. This is such a beautiful gift to yourself if presence and attention, rest and even maybe if you're lucky...boredom!
You've inspired me. I want to create space in my life to be bored. At the very least to not be busy busy busy. You've inspired me to ask myself what do I not need? How much can I pare down so I can create more quiet time in my life to do nothing?
Thank you so much for this, Danni!
When do you leave? Where are you going? (If you feel like sharing)
xoxoxo
Hate when that happens. The poof!’ Thanks for taking the time to rewrite this. I really appreciate it. Boredom, yes! Having my hand hurt bc of writing on paper. Or Not writing maybe. Yes and yes! Looking thru easy, rested, alert eyes, yes!!! I am not using FB or IG these days too much. A post here and there that gets hardly any response anyway. I know the feeling you mean with turning the phone back on. I just am realizing more and more how much it is taking away from me. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically it feels like fireworks in my hand and heart. Not good. And yesterday while looking around, I got so sad. Everyone is on their phone. Of course, I already knew. Noticed so many times in the past. But it was one of those moments when it hits you deep. Groups of friends even. Not only kids. Everyone looking down. Nobody intetacting. On the street. Waiting for bushes. In the caffè and at dinner in the restaurant. Horrible. So yes… no laptop. Will use my husband’s only to continue my online yoga lesson with my 2 students. And as little phone as possible. Substack, haven’t decided yet if I will try to publish from my phone. Maybe short stuff. We are going to Costa Rica. Probably Nicaragua and Panama. And then a few weeks to visit my parents in Florida at the end. We are excited bc it has been a while since all 4 of us travelled for a lengthy time together and CR is home for us. Both my daughters were born there. Thank you for this connection. It is the only reason I am here on this darn thing. Love and more love. 🩷 ❤️
I saw this reply! Did you loose another one?
Your daughters were born in CR! I lived there for a decade. In tamarindo! Central America is the best place to unplug. Nica and Panama are spectacular too. Where were you in CR and when? I was there in the aughts.
Maybe do a batch of posts for substack? Can we schedule posts here? lol? Or maybe just take a sabbatical. Or only Post once a month. I think the key is unplugging however that feels right for you.
And what you said about fireworks! Yes! That’s it!
This space has been the only social media I’ve ever been able to bear, much less look forward to. Sometimes, well most of the time, it still feels Ike a lot. But there’s so much love and goodness here. Like this conversation. It’s worth it to me. Now only if we could get rid of the phones…❤️ (which I’m typing on right now bc I’m at a conference and I didn’t ring my laptop)🤔
Did you see my reply? I think the same thing just happened to me 🙈🙉🙊 Gotta go now. Will write back later.
Reading this reminded me of how often I’ve seen a little patch of wildflowers in the median or by roadsides, mowed around by mowers who could have just chopped them down and didn’t. 🌼