Burst: August thoughts on reading, writing & the world

Now that it's August, I sense that I spent much of the summer waiting, though I can't say exactly what for. Fall transitions are now arriving, looking nothing like they ever have. Where did the summer even go? Some days I feel ready to burst, full of unused energy that has nowhere to go, full of worry and rage I have not yet figured out how to turn into a loaf of sourdough.

Still, there is comfort to be found. I enjoyed listening to the first act of this episode of This American Life, entitled How to Be Alone, which features Danielle Evans, whose short stories I've assigned to many of you. It's an intense, beautiful, and insightful meditation on the wreckage of the last several months. I can't say it cheered me up, but it made me feel less alone.

I feel heavier than I want to, but every day I laugh, at least for a few seconds. It doesn't take much--it can be as simple and giggly as this. But it keeps me from bursting apart, pieces of me flinging across the universe. I hope you are holding it together. I hope we will continue to find ways to hold one another from afar. A few possibilities are below.

Be well,
J.