Sometimes, when you’ve been off radar for a bit, there can be a temptation to show all you’ve been up to, accomplished, and done. But then you come upon a Mary Oliver quotation, stuck to the back of a red Toyota outside the Kettle Cove Creamery, and you remember that what you’re most proud of is not doing.

“I paused in the silence after he left the room. Weak as I was, I knew a relationship of care would not override my sovereignty. “ Revisiting a moment that showed the importance of bodily autonomy and collective care.

As pandemic restrictions lift, could I gently request, dear reader, that you not become a moon to all that is required of you? But that somewhere inside you hold the truth that your actual life is here, on your own planet. That there is an entire world to inhabit, full of mystery and its own wise pacing.

Finding guidance for the moment in ancient mythology by way of a walk in the woods. “The landscape looks more like November than January, but in the small ruts of frozen mud are filaments of ice, thin membranes that crackle under her paws and my boots, calling us to attention.”