I’ve been reading Rebecca Solnit’s melancholy autobiography, A Field Guide to Getting Lost this week. (It’s super good). And it’s helping me cope with feeling stuck.
Solnit writes about how “Place” (capital P) shapes and molds who we are—particularly the different ways we get lost—either physically, in our thoughts, or even in time as we age.
It’s heady stuff, but I’ve found a wealth of delightful passages that remind me that in many ways we are the sum of the places we’ve been—even if we can’t be exactly where we’d like to be right now:
“…the sequence of mesas alongside the highway has the power even as I write to move me deeply, as do dozens of other places, and I have come to long not to see new places but to return and know the old ones more deeply, to see them again.”
Many of us are stuck in place or sheltering with family. We’re all geographically restricted, forced to visit old stomping grounds instead of exploring new destinations. And while that can feel frustrating, it’s also an opportunity to plumb the depths of the much larger inner world where we all live.
If that’s too much philosophy for you, watch this unplugged live performance of “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus. It’s just as good as I remember, baby.
Here’s What We Made This Week
We finally made it to Santiago! (last summer). Lainey finished her epic collection of videos chronicling our 46-day trek across Spain on the Camino Norte route to Santiago de Compostela—and beyond.
(Here’s a link to the whole Camino playlist) if you want to walk along with us!
Four reasons to wear a mask that have nothing to do with the pandemic.
I’ve rediscovered my undying love for sun tea.
Until Next Week
Thanks for reading and following along, you beautiful human. Hit reply and let me know you have something we should share next week.
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Shawn & Lainey