finding magic
a smattering of little moments that have made me happy to exist :)
Since the election, I have been making more of an effort to be present.
Some of this comes from the fact that I think we leftists get really anxious about the future in ways that keep us from seeing the reality of what we can do in the moment. How have I been guilty of this myself?
But the bigger thing is that I’m finally in my favorite time of year. Not the holiday season per se, but late autumn: when there are glimpses of autumn found in fallen leaves and moments of winter felt in crisp cold mornings. It’s also so magical to experience sunrises and sunsets every day (at least when Parisian grisaille isn’t getting in the way).
So I wanted to share some little snippets that have been bringing me joy recently: little moments in the day-to-day and excerpts from my soul-soothing playlists. Hopefully they can inspire you to find pockets of magic where you are, especially as the pressure of the year-end weighs on us.
Let us be slow and present together. <3
Before we go on, I’m on a mission to reach my first 100 subscribers :) Since in the weeds is a reader-supported project, you get to help by engaging with my writing in the form of subscriptions, likes, and comments. They are so valuable to achieving this milestone, in addition to the fact that I love seeing notifications from familiar names and faces roll through my dashboard: it truly warms my heart!!
A couple days before my travel day to Chicago, I was on my way home from a long walk. On my afternoon strolls I find myself racing the sunset to get home and cozy again. I have really been enjoying running and walking around the Lilas and Romainville suburbs thanks to the tree-lined streets, and relative flatness. And there are several really beautiful plant shops and florists along the way.
But as I approached my apartment building and was turning off my Strava, a pair of squealing kids forced me to look up from my phone. All they were doing was running around with some of the fall leaves. They tossed them in the air one at a time, watching them spiral out of reach.
I felt a beautiful kinship with those kiddos and how I loved playing with gumballs and handfuls of pine needles on the playground. And now on some of my walks, I take a moment to lift a leaf, toss it, and left it waft down before going on my merry way.
It took everything in me not to buy this broccoli ornament from Monoprix. I feel like there’s a big inside joke that I’m missing about why they sell this, so if someone could please fill me in, that would be great. I might go get one for my family’s tree at home, who knows.
Last weekend, I sang in an Evensong service to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent. I tend to prefer Evensong to the pomp and circumstance of the 11am Eucharist at this church, mostly because of the moody nighttime vibe of singing in this beautiful gothic cathedral. It feels more intimate, something that is hard for me to feel in church choir settings for many reasons that I can get into later…
But aside from the candlelight and solemn atmosphere, the really special thing happened after the service.
I have sort of become friends with one of the staff singers who is also new to the choir this year. A few weeks ago, I went to a house party that one of his friends hosted and had a nice time, and discovered how much better my French is after a glass of wine.
He’s not singing there again until after I go home for the holidays, which he knew but I think he realized that more fully while we were milling around in the sanctuary after Evensong. “Bah, merde!” he cried, reaching out to give me what I thought was a hug. But as we hugged, it became the characteristic French pair of bisous on both cheeks.
Now, people give bisous all the time to those they may not know, but definitely not total strangers. Friends of friends, sure. Dear friends and loved ones, absolutely. The intimacy of it catches me off guard as much as it did when I studied abroad 7 years ago. But it was nice to know that we’re enough of friends that we can exchange that flavor of platonic intimacy.
I got to see the contemporary vocal group, Roomful of Teeth!!! It was the most locked-in at a concert that I’ve attended in a while, potentially because I haven’t gone to many concerts in the last couple years, but also the quality of the performance was amazing and crisp and clear, and the repertoire was deeply interesting, and the venue was cozy and reminded me of my undergraduate concert hall in all the best ways. I had such a great time! Hearing the timbres and textures they made as a group only reinforced my belief that the voice is the coolest instrument. Fight me in the comments.
Something that keeps me active with my running is being on the lookout for new views and angles on my familiar trodden paths. It gives a sense of adventure to each run, gives a sense of purpose to something that can otherwise feel aimless and silly. Because let’s be honest, running is a silly activity anyway: you run back and forth to and from your house for what? Exercise? Mental clarity? Being a human is weird.
But I leave you with some of the dappled and golden views from a couple of my outdoor excursions last week: Bois de Vincennes and the Buttes-Chaumont park, respectively.
i am so grateful to have you here in the weeds with me :) feel free to share this snippet of this little journey with a friend, upgrade your subscription, or leave a one-time tip!
Beautiful! I love the way you describe Paris, too! It sounds like such a dream!!
♥️