A Blessing for When You Feel Lack

a poem

I just returned from a weekend of backpacking on Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands about 20 miles off the southern California coast. I want to write about it more in detail soon - the aquamarine waters, the abundance of spriggy cowboy cologne (California sagebrush) spilling over the trail and transforming the whole island into an earthy, coastal-mint-chip perfumery.

It’s a special place in spring, one I've had the gift of visiting a handful of times. Kind of like Ireland, but with cacti. The rains have found the hillsides, the yarrow is fashioning her white discs of flowers, and April laps at the shoreline, eager for newness.

I am eager too.

There is something arresting about spending more than three days without cell service, communing around a campfire, falling asleep to the rhythm of frogs babbling from the creek. It’s good remembering the earth and our relationship to her before we learned to be stationary-indoor-computer-creatures. How security and convenience don’t always equate to feelings of ease and contentment, but embracing a certain level of discomfort sometimes does the trick. Especially if that discomfort yields ethereal blue-green coastal views when the mist clears.

Today I’m tucking the sights and sounds of the island into my body and willing myself to go a little slower, set my phone aside, and drink in the outdoor air when I’m able. At least in this moment I have food, shelter, water, community. Nothing else is a problem unless I find a way to make it one (and my God, does my brain love making problems).

I’m sending a poem today instead of an essay. I’m still experimenting with the kind of writing I hope to share here. I’ve been working on a collection of everyday blessings, words I need to hear when I’m struggling. Words I have been learning to offer myself as comfort. As nourishment. Here I’ll offer one to you (and maybe more in the future).

XOXO

P.S. I always love to hear from you! You can hit reply to this email or comment on the Substack app. I love knowing what you enjoy reading, deepening the conversation, or just messages saying hello.