I was on the road for the months of March and April and am only now settling back in. So, a little belated but a huge thank you. Loved this post and really enjoyed reading both of your essays (solo travel and spirituality.) Your words are so well chosen and your prose so moving -- you are an inspiration.
Thank you for your bite-size writing prompt! A thing I might actually find space for amid the school lunches and drop-offs and art projects and that blasted laundry! XO
Aaaaahhhhh Lavinia this is gorgeous and sooooo needed♥️♥️ Thank you for the boost. And your paintings are so beautiful!! I’m so proud of you and love you so much! Can’t wait for your next post😘😘
Thank you Lavinia, your prose is eloquent as always, and I may try this suggestion, I can always use more teachers, as the rest of the world can and should have,
Anne!!!! I’m so glad to see you here, too! I love that you have a @Colette Hannahan painting! She’s one of my best friends! We started a creative community together with @Karen Wertheim, and we teach around the world together, and she illustrated the most recent edition of The Best Women’s Travel Writing!!! You two should definitely know each other. When we do a workshop at Boulder Mountain Lodge (I assume you’ve heard the big news about that), you must come!!! Also—remind me where you moved to?
We moved to Portland, Oregon. (So, close to SF in the big picture and luckily we go back about 1x a year!)
And yes, I did hear the news about the lodge. We have been spending more time in Utah because my Dad died last year - hoping to start doing more adventure trips with the kids and my mom and of course Grand Staircase is on that list!
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. I hope to see you someday … maybe in the PNW (my mom and brother live there) or Utah. And of course, if you’re ever in New Orleans, LMK!
Needed this essay today. I especially loved this part: "Since we’re living in a shitstorm, maybe we can use it as fertilizer. Maybe instead of being crushed by the hardship and horrors, we can try being the daffodil, the fiddler crab, the herring. Because even when life feels uncertain, one thing I’m certain of is that creativity has always been an antidote to hopelessness."
Thank you, Beastie!! So good to see you here, too!! Also I may need you to walk me to home room sometimes because … well, you know my sense of direction
Thank you for all the prompts! You always inspire me to be creative and I learn from your adventures.
Thank you so much, Margaret!!! This means a lot to me.
Such a eye opener for me to slow down and notice the little things all around me daily.
My teacher today was a big ole bumble bee circling my head to get to a lilac bush I was standing next to!
I’m so glad to hear this! And thank you for telling me about your bumblebee teacher!
A beautiful, inspirational piece. Time to go channel my inner-herring!
It was wild to see so many of them swimming upstream all together! We can do this …..
Words for the soul. Needed this today!
Thank you, dear Julie!
Lovely, Lavinia, thank you.
Nature as teacher.
And sometimes a partner in laughter.
🌻🌊✍🏼
Thank you, Annette! We found some beautiful teachers in Sicily, didn't we? xoxo
I love this beautiful piece of writing, immeasurably. Thank you.
Oh Lisa, I love YOU! Thank you for all the wisdom and inspiration you bestow.
I was on the road for the months of March and April and am only now settling back in. So, a little belated but a huge thank you. Loved this post and really enjoyed reading both of your essays (solo travel and spirituality.) Your words are so well chosen and your prose so moving -- you are an inspiration.
Laine, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you, thank you!!!
Thank you for your bite-size writing prompt! A thing I might actually find space for amid the school lunches and drop-offs and art projects and that blasted laundry! XO
Oh yay! I’m all about the bite-sized prompts! I’d love to see what you wrote…. I already know it’s brilliant.
Great, well-needed advice. Thank you!!
I'm so glad to hear this, Linda!
Aaaaahhhhh Lavinia this is gorgeous and sooooo needed♥️♥️ Thank you for the boost. And your paintings are so beautiful!! I’m so proud of you and love you so much! Can’t wait for your next post😘😘
Thank you for this — and for your beautiful friendship, and for rewriting my “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body” narrative!
Thank you Lavinia, your prose is eloquent as always, and I may try this suggestion, I can always use more teachers, as the rest of the world can and should have,
Oh this is the best. Thank you for being such a teacher to me!!! I love you!!!
I love this dispatch, I love your daffodil painting and I love you. 😘
Thank you, friend! I love you back so very much!! Also, all the stories you’ve been publishing are brilliant, as always!!
Ahhhh, Lavinia - you know Colette, I am jealous! I bought a print of hers to remind us of San Francisco, which we still miss so much.
Glad to see you here! xx
Anne!!!! I’m so glad to see you here, too! I love that you have a @Colette Hannahan painting! She’s one of my best friends! We started a creative community together with @Karen Wertheim, and we teach around the world together, and she illustrated the most recent edition of The Best Women’s Travel Writing!!! You two should definitely know each other. When we do a workshop at Boulder Mountain Lodge (I assume you’ve heard the big news about that), you must come!!! Also—remind me where you moved to?
We moved to Portland, Oregon. (So, close to SF in the big picture and luckily we go back about 1x a year!)
And yes, I did hear the news about the lodge. We have been spending more time in Utah because my Dad died last year - hoping to start doing more adventure trips with the kids and my mom and of course Grand Staircase is on that list!
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. I hope to see you someday … maybe in the PNW (my mom and brother live there) or Utah. And of course, if you’re ever in New Orleans, LMK!
Needed this essay today. I especially loved this part: "Since we’re living in a shitstorm, maybe we can use it as fertilizer. Maybe instead of being crushed by the hardship and horrors, we can try being the daffodil, the fiddler crab, the herring. Because even when life feels uncertain, one thing I’m certain of is that creativity has always been an antidote to hopelessness."
Thank you, Diane!! May we all be daffodils!! xo
Awesome piece, L'il Waif! So glad also that you're on Substack! :)
Thank you, Beastie!! So good to see you here, too!! Also I may need you to walk me to home room sometimes because … well, you know my sense of direction
I am still catching up myself. ;)
This is so thoughtful, LS. I love seeing The Cape through your eyes, the world through your heart, and writing through your prompts and poems. XOXO KL
Thank you, KL! I am so happy to be in this world with you.