In A Word - Change
In A Word - Change
Welcome to In a Word, a newsletter that cultivates thoughtfulness, one word at a time. If a friend forwarded you this email, click here to subscribe.
Hey there!
I’m so glad you’re here. Before we dive in, a reminder:
In A Word now has a companion podcast!
Search for “In A Word” in your podcast app of choice and subscribe. What I’m loving about the podcast is the space to share some thoughts that don’t fit in this already lengthy newsletter. Join me there for even more cultivated thoughtfulness!
In this issue, we’re exploring the word “change.” It seems that our relationship with change is a complicated one: we crave it, and we resist it. We fear it to the point of denial at times, and we feel desperate for it at others. One year a cascade of change gives us whiplash; another, we feel stuck, afraid nothing will ever change.
In this issue, you’ll find a poem about a cliché yearbook inscription, followed by a collection of change-related links, and a closing benediction.
I absolutely loved this therapist’s memoir detailing her own experience as a client, and her work as a therapist. You can read an excerpt here: How Do People Actually…Change?
In I’m So Excited for 40th Grade, Mary Laura Philpott reminds us that we can create the fresh start school years used to offer us:
“Supporting [my children] as they grow into the people they’re becoming takes so much time and energy that unless I actively focus on my own evolution, I can forget that I’m still becoming someone, too.”
We Might Be Reaching ‘Peak Indifference’ on Climate Change- Climate change is becoming impossible to ignore—a hurricane swept by us here in the Southeast for the fourth year in a row; the Amazon is burning. Is indifference about to tip into panic?
I Gooped Myself- I am fascinated (in both a disdainful and curious way) by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop empire. This article offers some interesting insights into Goop and the American desire to buy change:
“The act of shopping itself is the salve. With most of my Goop purchases, the joy was all up front—in selecting, acquiring, and unwrapping things that seemed special, in feeling like something about me might change.”
(If you’re interested in this kind of thing, Smash the Wellness Industry is another good read.)
Our Spare Change (started by two college students in Charleston!) makes minimalist, customized jewelry with a mission. (I currently have my eye on the copper skinny bar necklace!)
“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things?”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
A few last links worth a click:
Beginnings and endings, gain and loss, growth and decay—all are marked by change. In the changes we choose, and the ones we fight, may we grieve and give thanks for what was and what is.
May we have the courage to commit the greatest act of hope: to believe that light may yet break into deafening darkness, and that love is a greater force for change than fear.
As always, I’d also love to hear your thoughts on anything this issue calls to mind for you. Simply respond to this email to let me know.
Gratefully, Jacey
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