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This past weekend we went camping with our daughter's elementary school in a beautiful redwood park. Completely plugged in. Into nature, that is. Reconnected, rejuvenated, refreshed, relaxed. We hiked the trails, frolicked in clear fresh streams, chased butterflies, and carved tools out of rocks. And of course sang songs by the campfire and roasted marshmallows.
The moment we got back, BOOM. Orlando. Christina Grimmie.
I'm in tears as I write this. Can barely see the keyboard. I don't know any of these people who were gunned down, and I certainly don't want to know the names or faces of the killers. But some of the tears do go out to these young men, because something, something very deep and profound, had to be badly broken inside them to drive them to take the time and mental commitment to do what they did.
This is not an individual problem. This is systemic. The fabric of society has holes in it we cannot continue to ignore.
The awful thing is, this isn't the last time, is it. This will continue to happen because there is too much that's gone wrong on too many levels. Too many people too unhappy with their lives or some aspect of society or culture who have too little support and far too much unresolved anger. Too few barriers to obtaining firearms. Too many political/economic/social agendas for us all to sit down at the table and look each other in the eyes without judgment, without fear, without intolerance. Without understanding.
Christina Grimmie's mom survived cancer three times, only to have to go through her own daughter's murder. I doubt the young man who cut down this brilliant young flower, and then took his own life, even knew about that.
Death is permanent. Nothing anyone can do can bring a person back once they're gone, and that's why it hurts like hell. But life is more than permanent—it's everpresent. It gives us infinite possibilities for joy, for energy, for creativity and thriving, for resilience. It's like a garden in constant bloom. Every single day is a blessed gift.
Every. Single. Day. Is a blessed gift.
~ Birgitte
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Despite the tragedy and pain, there is still a lot of beauty in the world. A lot more beauty, I would say, than the negative stuff (that just gets more airtime). Take, for example, the stunning crazy insane beautiful glass sculptures of marine life by 19th century Bohemian glassblower Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolf.
Apparently this is how people studied marine life in the 1800's... because, of course, there was no scuba diving equipment or underwater photography. Revisiting this priceless collection gives us an incredible look into what the seas held 150 years ago.
Pardon the pun, but I was literally blown over by the detail of these pieces. And yes, there's a photography book and a short film!
Blessed beautiful planet.
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The initial results of my first official "The Muse" survey are in!
Given the overwhelming lack of response, I can say with 100% certainty that one or more of the following assumptions must be true:
• Most of you loathe filling out surveys (I hear you on that)
• Not enough of you have even received last month's issue and were not aware of the survey
• A certain percentage of you are so overwhelmed with the earth-shattering content of the eLetter that you have been left speechless and are now recovering on a Caribbean island with a trunkful of caipirinhas
• A small but significant percentage of you refuse to fill out surveys that do not offer a brand new Tesla as a reward.
I did receive some responses and for those I am grateful. I can already see patterns forming, but I'd love to have more responses (please?) to see where those early patterns go. Here is the survey again. It takes literally a few minutes.
So maybe between caipirinhas? Or Tesla test drives? Or the household chores you really don't want to do? Yeah, surveys are much more fun than folding laundry.
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About that laundry. We creatives have this nagging reputation of being massively disorganized. Cluttered. Unruly. Can't be bothered to tidy up.
What do you envision when you think of "an artist"? Do you see a studio splattered all over with paint, broken pieces of charcoal on the floor, weeks-old sandwiches forgotten on the window sill? Do you see a writer's desk piled impossibly high with paper, scribbled notes crumpled up that missed the wastebasket, grimy old cups of coffee bleeding stains onto a once-beautiful wood veneer?
Sure, there is some of that. How do you expect us to create if we're having to clean?
But I do have a confession to make. I really don't want the world to know this, because it could ruin the carefully groomed reputation of creatives everywhere. That's why I'm burying it here, three quarters of the way down in my eLetter.
I secretly like, respect, and appreciate organization. I like things to be neat and clean. I cannot stand piles of dishes in the sink or heaps of clothes in the hamper. So I'm reading this little book by Marie Kondo called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Now if I could only make the time to do what she recommends...
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Speaking of getting organized, I FINALLY updated my media interviews page. Woo hoo! Check it out—we've got three new radio interviews up now. They are SO much fun to do, I could do them all day long. Here's more coming up!
Living the Tzolkin
Wednesday, June 15 (tomorrow!)
I'll publish the link to the podcast in next month's issue.
The Chocolate Quest at Full Circle Farm
Tuesday, June 21, 9:00am - 12:30pm PST
This is going to be a very fun class—I've got the owner of Firefly Chocolate coming in to show us how to make chocolate from scratch! Space is limited to 20 participants, and registrations have already started to come in, so sign up soon! Or forward to your friends with kids ages 7 to 14.
FCIA industry event
Saturday, June 24
Join me at Elevate Chocolate, the summer event of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association in New York.
Get tickets here
Sprouts Cooking Club
June/July 2016
On June 7, Jonas Ketterle of Firefly Chocolate and I did our first session with the Sprouts Cooking Club campers in San Francisco. We cried for the "bad" chocolate we all used to love when we were little, but rejoiced at the heavenly flavor of freshly made chocolate. Still working on the media (images and videos) from the event, stay tuned!
The Speculative Fiction Cantina podcast
Friday, August 5 (details will be announced in next month's issue)
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