Glimmers: March 2024
A Monthly Roundup
Last time: Why I’m a Morning Writer
“In my finite life, the mundane has begun to sparkle. The things I love—the things I should love—become clearer, brighter.”—Kate Bowler, No Cure for Being Human
I’ve been thinking lately about intuition, the way it’s always there, even if we don’t listen to it. Even if we’re too tired/burned out/distracted to pause and believe what our bodies are trying to tell us.
It’s something I’m working on—the listening part. Because there’s also a knowing part. When you know something at your core is right or wrong or true even though there is no evidence or facts to back it up…I’ve had a few good reminders lately.
All of this vague language is my way of saying March has been a long month and I’ve been out of whack more than once. I’m going to keep paying attention, though, and keep listening to myself, my knowing, and the world around me. To quote Mary Oliver (because I don’t do enough of that), “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
Here are my glimmers from March, a quick roundup of the things sparkling on my periphery (see February 2024 Glimmers here).
An upcoming music series
BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds present Courtney Love’s Women
With a novel titled Doll Parts, you can bet that I really adore Courtney Love, so this update made me squeal a little. The first episodes will be available on April 8 and I’m probably going to lose my mind over it.
Ahem: “Throughout the series, Courtney recalls: her formative years, in which she discovered disco through the record collection at a childhood care home; reciting Sylvia Plath poetry for a Mickey Mouse Club audition…”
Yes please.
A landmark
I am from Baltimore and still consider it home, though I live elsewhere now. This has been a devastating week for the city. The Key Bridge, which collapsed after a container ship hit it this week, is a landmark I have etched in my memory.
It’s a different kind of glimmer, of course, but it stirred up all sorts of thoughts and questions. (And yes, I’ve seen the video of the collapse and no, my heart can’t handle watching it again).
A Book
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May
I can’t focus on fiction lately (probably because I’m editing my own fiction), but leaning into nonfiction more and more. I bought Enchantment while in London for Spring Break because I knew it had just come out in paperback. I just started but it has been a delight so far.
Katherine May: “Enchantment is small wonder magnified through meaning, fascination caught in the web of fable and memory. It relies on small doses of awe, almost homeopathic: those quiet traces of fascination that are found only when we look for them.”
A Substack
If I find out that everyone else knew about three-word horoscope and didn’t tell me, we’re going to need to talk. Without focus this week to read the multiple horoscope apps and emails I subscribe to, a three-word horoscope is kinda perfect.
So simple, so concise. It has made my week that much more enjoyable.
A measuring spoon
Cat Ceramic Measuring Spoons (at World Market)
This is going to be one of those things that I love from afar and never buy because I’m so slow at purchase-related decisions, and then once I decide to buy them, they will be sold out.
These little cat faces are a little too sweet for me and maybe that’s why I love them so much.
Cheers to more energy and inspiration next month. If you haven’t added Doll Parts on Goodreads, here’s that link (cover coming soon!)
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