Friday reflection
Patriarchy & cheeseburgers
A swing hangs from a palm tree on an empty beach with the ocean in the background
Hi friends,
I’m going to keep it short this week, because I don’t trust my coherence. Why, you ask? Because I finally got covid. I made it through all of 2020, all of 2021, all of 2022, and somehow, in the summer of 2023, it finally caught me (and my daughter, and my husband). My husband was the hardest hit, and spent several nights wracked with fever; my daughter had the mildest symptoms, thank goodness, with me somewhere in the middle. We’re on the mend, but the brain fog is real, so much so that the other day, I emailed my book coach, Brandi Larsen, to say, “I feel stoned, but that’s ok, let’s still meet! Maybe I’ll be extra open-minded!” And she was like, “Um, no.” (I felt much more like myself by the time we ended up meeting. The fog, it comes and goes.)
To those of you who have suffered far worse symptoms, and far more losses, due to this virus — I am so, so sorry. I still can’t believe, sometimes, that we’re experiencing a global pandemic in my lifetime, or my daughter’s lifetime. But then, there is so much I can’t believe, these last seven years. And then there is all that I do believe, passionately: that nature and creativity heal, for example, and that it’s in community that we find true strength.
Moving on… a few things to chew on:
Barbie thoughts? I found out I had covid the day I was supposed to see the Barbie movie, so I still haven’t seen it. Have you? I know some people who loved it, and others who hated it. If you had a powerful reaction to the movie and would like to write about it for this here newsletter, I’d love to hear from you. You can also post your thoughts in the comments!
CNN on patriarchy: Whatever you thought of the movie, I am excited by the conversations it’s provoking in mainstream media and culture, including this l’il explainer on the term “patriarchy” from none other than CNN. And I’m curious to hear: What’s your relationship to the term “patriarchy”? Is it something it’s important for us to talk about, to call out, to take on? Has “smash the patriarchy” become a trendy bandwagon that obscures complex intersectionality? Again, I’d welcome your pitches on this and also encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments below.
And, finally, Tasmanian cheeseburger: I’m super excited to share that later this month, I’ll be publishing an interview with Venu Gupta, whom I recently met via Zoom. She was in a Tasmanian cafe, eating a cheeseburger; I was in New York’s Hudson Valley, not eating a cheeseburger. I was so inspired by the year-long trip she’s taking with her family, AND by the coaching work she does; then, a couple of weeks later, I got to experience her coaching style, and WOW. I can’t wait for you to get to know her better.
Wishing you a day full of lovely moments that you savor -
‘Til next time -
Amanda
P.S. Oops, I didn’t keep it short.