Quote of the Week: “Life is the course. Love is the source.”
Feeling: Discordant. A little withdrawn. Molto ansiosa. How do we maintain healthy relationships with ourselves amid life’s paradoxes and constant demands? How do we reckon our own morality against other people’s perceptions + projections? Last week I had my first therapy appointment since 2019. The process of finding a therapist was painstaking, but I knew it was important to be selective after past horrors. I’m pleased to report it went well and I have my next session tomorrow. My goal is to cultivate some semblance of inner peace to better navigate my anxiety in relationships and beyond. In my wildest dreams, an unshakeable calm lives in my gut like a cerulean utopia with little creatures smoothing the knots and sprinkling probiotic fairy dust.
Grateful for: All of you whose subscriptions, both free and paid, help affirm my identity as a writer every day. Last week when I posted my paid subscriber goal for the year, I was shown abundant support that I don’t take lightly. I use this space to share the intimate details of my life and relationships, as well as those of contributors, and I can only hope it encourages you to take stock of your own. That said, I want to be more intentional in my self-promotion on social media. This is, and always has been, about writing and real life. I’ve had fun working with brands in the past and thought it was a good way to stay creative, but after a recent wild goose chase with a huge athleisure brand who had me do a lot of work… for free… to never end up posting it, I just can’t be bothered. I shared a similar gripe a few months ago, so perhaps this particular incident marks a chapter closing? We’ll hardly miss ye.
Loving: A morning walk. When I moved home a few weeks ago, I told myself I can continue buying coffee out every day to keep a ritual intact. I was instinctually hopping in my car each morning to hit the Dunkin drive-thru (sadly the only place to get a coffee in Danville), but an enveloping realization that I’m overly sedentary nudged me to lace up my sneakers. I also have a no music/podcast rule for that 20-minute journey. It’s a good way for me to start the day with ~2,500 steps in solitude.
Do you guys track your steps? Because I think that was either the worst or best idea I’ve had in a while. Currently I just use the Health app on my iPhone, but I’m getting a FitBit from my friend soon. Coming off years of disordered exercise and eating, I will have to work against my tendency toward obsession, but the back pain I’ve been experiencing from so much sitting needed attention.
Thinking: The past week has been revelatory for me re: Israel-Palestine. My friend Emily is a brilliant activist who shared tons of resources with me to help understand this decades long occupancy and erasure of Palestinian people. Between genocide and the massive uptick in anti-Semitic crimes worldwide, I thought it was vital to do a deep dive so I could be more outwardly supportive. I shared the list of resources to my Instagram story, but if you’d like it directly, please email me at dia@brokebutmoisturized.com. Additionally, if you have a library card/pin, you may have access to Kanopy: a streaming service for documentaries, foreign/indie/classic cinema, and otherwise hard-to-find, library/university-adjacent material. I just watched and recommend 5 Broken Cameras—a highly personal account of non-violent resistance in a West Bank village filmed and narrated by filmmaker and local farmer, Emad Burnat and co-directed by Israeli, Guy Davidi.
Yes, baby, the rumors are true: Broke But Moisturized is $30 for an entire year now through the end of May. That’s like a gel manicure or a tank of gas, both of which are way more essential to your daily well-being, but we encourage frivolity in this space.