Monthly chai date
Welcome (mid)August! Feeling chillier than usual where you live, also?
I am just back to work after 10 days of vacation. 10. Glorious. Days. And by "just back" I mean: on Monday I walked in the door; dropped my bags; walked the dog and then shnorgled the heck out of him; showered; did a serious foot scrub-down and removed layers of dirt from The Land, and sand from the beach, and rain from the streets of Boston; uploaded my new Melissa Ferrick CD and rocked out while doing laundry; then waited for my partner to arrive home so I could do some more shnorgling. Then I had my latest favorite drink, we caught up on our favorite show, and then zonked out. And now I'm back on the labor floor and in my clinics, just as busy as I remember. Bring it, midwifery.
If we were having chai together, I'd ask you about the last time you felt surrounded by people at their most comfortable and most safe, and you at yours. I would ask about the last time every person you came across had kindness and honesty and true intentions regarding their interactions with you. And I would ask about when it was that you had the deepest of conversations with your best of friends, to release and unload and start anew, and allow them to do the same. And if it's been a while, I would encourage you to find that again.
You know that feeling you get right before a birth, or right when you meet someone you think you'll be close with for a long time, or right before starting something new and great? I've had a lot of those lately. You?
Over chai, I would swoon, amaze, and gush over my latest read, Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." HAVE YOU READ THAT BOOK?!?!?! If not, read it immediately. I don't know what took me so long, but my mind has been blown. I also learned that @Backline is doing a summer book club on it, so I am excited to check that out, too. Now on to "Vaginas: An Owner's Manual" (already a bit patronizing and hetero, but clear and great info), and "Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History" (fascinating the amount of information we don't learn in school).
I'll admit that as of Tuesday evening, I've started watching Orange is the New Black. Or, on Twitter, referred to as @OITNB. Would love to know your thoughts, because I'm only now catching on to it's fan-dom.
Chai in hand, I would ask about your self-care and how that is going. Not only has mine been terrible, but I have a whole post on self-care that I haven't had time to finish (now isn't that just meta-indicative?!). Go to a yoga class. Get a massage or have your friend/partner give you one. Drink you favorite drink. Read your favorite blog. And take a deep breath and make time for yourself. Oh, and listen to your favorite music. Here's one example of mine lately (and I am proud to say that I touched Melissa Ferrick recently and it was just as great as I thought it would be).
As the conversation would slow and we would both sigh and recognize we had a moment away from the world and now we need to return, I would hope for you what I hope for my closest friends: kindness from others, kindness to yourself, and love. Just love.See you in September.- Stephanie