Hey there,
This is a Good Friday like no other, isn’t it? As our local church hosts yet another virtual service this evening — for which I am grateful for — in a way it drives home even deeper how much I long for community right now. Partial solutions are necessary, but it’s also right and okay to acknowledge when it just stinks when the ideal isn’t possible. I miss people. I miss places outside my house. I miss not wearing a mask to the grocery store.
And yet, I’m still thankful. Still, still, still. I’m glad it’s spring. I’m glad I have a home where we can quarantine safely. I’m glad my people are still healthy. I’m glad technology exists so we can still connect on a partial-solution level. I’m glad there’s good art in the world — books, movies, TV series, poems, silly TikToks, delightful dogs on Twitter. There’s still so much good in the world when we remember to see it.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff3df64c2-4984-440d-a79f-ae23a9085535_1200x751.jpeg)
Tulips bloom this week in the Roma Flowers Park on the outskirts of Rome.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. This week I pulled up a favorite post of mine, from my friend and author Shawn Smucker, about when the art you create disappoints you. I feel this in my bones.
2. And then there’s this gem from Katherine from a few years ago, about how to help a friend who’s hurting. Such a fitting reminder right now.
3. A reminder: for the next little bit, I’ll be doing shorter, more frequent episodes of The Good List. On Monday, I shared 3 questions you can ask yourself when things get hard.
4. On Wednesday, I shared a conversation with my pal Sarah Mackenzie, who knows how to homeschool sanely. We talked about a super-useful hack I learned from her several years ago that makes homeschooling MUCH easier.
5. And today, I’m reminding you of something I’m basically reminding myself — let’s do this, okay? It’s good for our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Quotable 💬
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
― Pope John Paul II
Time Machine ⏰
11 (!) years ago, I wrote about why we should use our good stuff, even on ordinary days. Seems fitting to remember this in our current state of being home, day after day.
Elsewhere 📌
![Twitter avatar for @tsh](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/tsh.jpg)
Have a good holiday weekend — keep washing those hands & wearing those masks,
xo, Tsh
p.s. The top photo is one of The Atlantic’s photos of the week.