Tea Time 🍵 · A Weekly Roundup

Small wins and big struggles, what I'm reading and enjoying on Substack, and advice from a crone.

Hello you,

Pull up a comfy seat — let’s drink tea and spill the tea.

This is the first post of a new weekly series called Tea Time 🍵 — a weekly roundup of what I’ve been reading, listening to, struggling with, and loving on Substack.

I’m experimenting with this first post, and I’d love your feedback: which sections did you enjoy most? (Or not so much?) Is there anything you’d like to see more or less of?

💁‍♀️ I’m In My ____ Era.

This week, I was in my get shit done Era. The new year still feels ripe, and I’m riding the boost of energy that has accompanied revived routines: long writing sessions and moving my body in dance and yoga classes.

💪🏼 Win of the Week

I picked up my manuscript after several months away! And my story let me back in. It feels great to be immersed again. 🥹

📚 What I’m Reading

I’m a quarter of the way through A Court of Silver Flames, the fifth book in the popular A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. The sexual tension has me turning these pages quickly… 👀

🎧 A Podcast That Changed my Perspective

The Emerald - “No One Here Gets Out Alive”

It opens with this: “Good morning. We’re all going to die.”

This nearly 2-hour episode offers a beautiful perspective on aging and dying. Aging and dying is inevitable — and yet we spend our lives and money fighting to avoid it. Joshua, the host, discusses how ancient cultures contemplate and prepare for death, a sacred ritual that is sorely lacking in our modern world. This podcast helped me feel the temporality of my own life — our days are absolutely limited and precious, and crazily enough, we often need to be reminded of this!

The mere act of sitting with death (or listening to a podcast about death) can help us feel more alive.

📸 Travel Photo from the Vault

Last week, I finished the Eras Tour docuseries, which has me reminiscing on how magical the Eras Tour was — dressing up, screaming my favorite songs, trading friendship bracelets, reveling in the joy of it all.

So, This week’s photo from the vault features the gals and I all ready for Night 1 of the Eras Tour in Zurich Switzerland (2024). What a moment.

😅 What I Struggled With

This week I struggled with taking in too much on social media — the collective heartbreak and trauma from the horrors and atrocities being committed by those in my own country. My heart has felt heavy, and it’s hard to maintain my own semblance joy and whimsy while living though such a harmful, appalling shit show.

📝 Behind the Scenes Memoir Update

After completing the first draft of my manuscript (about the Camino) in August and giving it breathing room, I’m now entering the ruthless editing phase, with over 30,000 words to cut. I’m beginning again with Chapter 1, and I’m pleased with all the whittling down I’ve done so far. My current motto is: readable, not perfect.

🙌🏽 2 Substackers I’m Loving

Emily from The Desk of Emily: Emily shares her candid thoughts on writing, living a creative life, transitioning from a corporate job to a self-employed writer, and more. She approaches her life and writing in a way that I find gentle and admirable. We’ve had some thoughtful discussions about our writing habits, inspiring resources, and how scrolling affect our attention and writing sessions.

Sandra from Sandrapop: Her profile and publication is color! Fun! Joy! She’s “your bubbly friend who loves color, coffee, and cheering you on” — and I totally feel that. Thank you, Sandra, for all your comments, support, and for cheering me on this week!

💃🏼 A Practice That Brought Me Back to My Body

Booty and Floor dance class — session one of another six-week series. I’m back in my kneepads and back to twerking on the floor. 😉

🙃 A Fun Fact About Women’s Health and Rights

Home Alone 2 is older than the first policy requiring women to be included in clinical trials for new medicines (1993).

(All facts sourced from Cindy Eckert’s instagram page.)

👑 Advice from a Crone

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” — Mary Oliver

(I mean crone in the most fabulous and empowering way possible — a wise woman wearing her crown. If you’re 60+ and want to be featured in this section, send me a DM with your life advice!)

🔮 Collective Card Pull

This week’s card for the collective: patience.

From The Time Traveler’s Oracle. Does this resonate? Stir anything for you?

🧘🏻‍♀️ Mindful Moment to Close the Week

Place a hand on your heart and take a deep breathe. You’re alive. What do you want to do with the remainder of your precious day (and life)?

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Happy weekend. ✨ I’d love to hear how your week was too — share it in the comments! What was your small win? Your biggest struggle? What are you reading and loving?👇🏼