Reduce, re-use, recycle. Words we hear a lot, usually referring to things we buy.
I think we collectively agree: we consume too much. We’re surrounded by stuff, and too much of it. I am super-complicit; as I type an Amazon parcel arrived (hair products). Even feeling a need to ‘edit’ belongings is a privilege, as is pondering what ‘sparks joy’. I love a good Kondo session like no other, but I’ve been thinking about how this extends to what we consume online, as well as what we create for others to consume.
I work with a retail brand, and a lot of our work is creating content, a word that used to really piss me off, because it tells you absolutely nothing about what is actually being produced. I hated how it reduced stories and words and imagery and film and ideas into what felt like…filler.
In my downtime I consume a lot of it. From brands, individuals, friends, and strangers on the internet… I read somewhere that the amount of information most of us process in one day is the amount of information people 100 years ago would receive over an entire lifetime. But our brains, while incredible, still use a convoluted and ancient operating system to process this ceaseless flow of news, information, and questionable facts, and so we are all overwhelmed.
It’s just too much.
So this month I wanted to whittle it all down. Much like buying too much fast fashion or not re-wearing clothes (bonkers), in a glut of content can we choose sometimes to not produce more?
This edition is a tribute to the re-read. It’s that lush familiarity of going back to a book you loved or putting on a dress you know makes you feel incredible, and exactly the comfort I’m craving this month.
The searing heat of the last month reminded me of some cooling recipes the ladies of Atmosphere had put together for The Tonic. All of them are simple, do not involve hours in the kitchen or over the stove, and have one common goal: to cool you down when it is insanely hot outside.
An app to help you meditate and be mindful is a great idea… in theory.
I’m probably amongst only a handful of people who did NOT enjoy Headspace, for instance. It was lovely and well-designed and well-intentioned and all the good things, but it just did not work for me.
Open is a newer one, and kind of cool? It’s chic as hell and has short and targeted practices that range from meditation and breathwork to yoga, pilates and various other movement-based practices. Plus, it’s great for people like me, who really, really (really, really) struggle to sustain a regular meditation practice and need a bit of range. Like, I want to do breathwork, but not for half an hour, and, like, not every day.
My favourite words: there’s a code!
The great team at Holisticism have this code that lets you try the thing for one month, and for free!
Pinterest-ey? Sure. But I am v.into May Homes’ disco mushrooms. I just wish they were waterproof and that I could pop them into a flowerbed.
Is is the free-flow edges that look like each is liquifying or the lovely selection of finishes on offer? Not sure, but I want every one of these side and coffee tables.
Cool, finely-crafted hardware and fittings that will seriously uplevel cupboards, drawers, or give doors lowkey luxe vibes. Plus, in most cases, you won’t need anything fancier than a screwdriver to install them.
Lara Saluja is a dancer, aerialist, teacher and friend, and her studio always has GREAT tunes. She made us a playlist! Read more about Lara in last time's letter here.
Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.
I have talked about the value of daily routine and what it gives me, about small rituals I borrowed from other people, and about ones that are as much about beauty as anything else. Self-care is personal. It will look very different for me than for you, but I can tell you why I invest so much energy in it.
Does doing all these things grant me immunity to life’s truly awful parts? Well, no. That would be cool, but sorry, that shit is unavoidable. However some might help with grace, resilience, and a sense that actually, things are okay. They’re good.
For me, daily movement and sweat is non-negotiable. My commitment might’ve stemmed from vanity to start, but it’s ended up somewhere else entirely, and I credit this daily practice with an ability to assimilate and purge the stickier bits that rational thought cannot touch. It is also meditation, or attempting it. That one is newer and harder for me, but the rewards are undeniable. Fun? No. Functional? Deeply.
And it is now the outdoors – walking outside with the dogs is now a window of time that is so deeply pleasurable I cannot believe that I took it for granted for so many years, or worse, resented it.
It is all too easy to turn these into another item on a to-do list, or to try and squeeze in multiple modalities in an attempt to feel not just good, but BEST, but it takes self-knowledge to sift and keep the ones that actually help you. The ‘best’ regimes are flexible, fun, and allow room for changing schedules and moods.
These are my rituals. Find yours.
In order to do great things, you must be unafraid to recreate yourself. You can’t do that holding on to a glory from yesterday.
