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Hello!
Weβre officially back from our pilgrimage up to the Pacific Northwest, and Iβm slooooooowly easing back into life here at home. Iβve given myself all the permission I need to land the metaphorical plane with as long a runway as possible because Iβm back to school prep meetings next week for the rapidly approaching new academic year. This week has meant tackling giant laundry piles, refilling the empty fridge, cleaning off dusty desks, and harvesting whatβs left of our summer garden βΒ all while joyfully still not creating any content except for whatβs scribbled incoherently in my journal.
Every summer on these screen breaks I reset my perspective, where I re-remember why I love to write in the first place. I donβt write because I love hitting publish every day, because I need people to know my daily thoughts, or even because I need to feed my family (even though I do, and writing is the widest avenue where I do this). I write because I enjoy it, and I enjoy sharing it with others when itβs time to share it. My thoughts and words need to marinate more often than I allow them (or our culture deems prudent), yet itβs on this annual mid-summer break when I remember, yet again, that everyone is perfectly fine not hearing from me and Iβm more than fine to just keep my thoughts to myself for a bit.
More on this soonβ¦ In the meantime, hello! π Itβs good to dust off 5 Quick Things and send this little letter to you once more. I hope it finds you in a good space.

5 Quick Things βοΈ
1.Β Iβm SUPER eager to get started on my fall backyard gardenβ¦ If youβre new to gardening (or you want to try for the very first time!) this is a solid 101 primer.
2.Β Thereβs no reason to eat three meals a day (via The Atlantic). (Related: Iβve eaten only one or two meals most days for several years now and feel great when I do.)
3.Β Iβve never thought of this before, but I like this perspective. βWhat lies near the heart of fairy stories, therefore, is the restoration of creatures formerly sundered from one another.β
4.Β I want to try this. Itβll have to be soon or else Iβll just wait until a holiday break βΒ but Iβm intrigued and weirdly curious.
5.Β And finallyβ¦Β How peaceful is this?
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening π»
This Jack Johnson playlist because it drips with summer and as hot as it is right now, I still want to savor this season while we have it.
Quotable π¬
βI want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do.β
βNaomi Shihab NyeΒ #
Question For You to Ponderβ¦ π€
Do I still do some version of my favorite thing to do for fun when I was a kid?
Welp, thatβs all I have for now because well, I havenβt been writing, recording, or reading much beyond whatβs between a book cover. π New episodes of A Drink With a Friend are headed your way soon, along with some new essays here in The Commonplace. Iβll share them with you over the next few weeks!
xo, Tsh
p.s.Β Ha!