I tend to sing to myself (or maybe quietly out loud) while I’m gardening. Two childhood songs are regulars on my (mostly) internal playlist.
In the spring, The Garden Song, tops the hit list. With its sweet melody, along with a reminder to take it slow (inch by inch) and reinforcement that we’re not alone (Mother Earth will make your strong if you give her love and care), it feels like a prayer as I plop seeds into the ground and hope for the best.
Around harvest time, another song pops into my brain. This one is so obscure, I haven’t found it online. I think it’s from an interstitial from The Banana Splits.
The twangy tune includes the lyrics: Put something in--a seed. Get something out you need. That’s what the world is all about: putting things in, getting things out.
This feels especially relevant right now.
“We’re in a era of planting seeds,” a Gen X friend sighed to me recently.
She wasn’t talking about gardens.
She was talking about American government and civil society. She was talking about the world.
As Gen Xers and Boomers, we’ve enjoyed a bounty for many years. But now we’re in era of planting seeds- democracy, women’s rights, the climate, etc. (Search the term polycrisis if it’s not yet part of your vocabulary.)
It’s a lot. In some cases, as with sowing lettuce, we’ll see the fruits of our labor in the near term
In other cases, we’re unlikely to experience what grows from our seeds.. Not because we’re old*, but because the problems are so enormous.
It’s easy to give up or get sucked into overwhelm.
I sometimes do.
But going back to my gardening soundtrack can help. We can’t solve all of the world’s problems, but we can make progress on some of them.
Narrow your view. What issues do you care about most? What can you do, inch by inch, that will plant seeds to ensure a better future for humanity’s descendants?
It’s hard to know which seeds will take root. Regardless, the time to start sowing is now.
(Related: if you’re in Cook County, the time to prepare to run for a local office is also now. Reach out if you want info or tips.)
*Though we are, indeed, old.
Hot Flashes & Fierce Tales - This Wednesday!
Hot Flashes & Fierce Tales is just a few days away on Wednesday, August 12. It’s a great line-up!
Joy Wright, Suzie Campbell, Pauline Kochanski, Mia McCullough, Debi Lewis, and I will entertain you with relatable stories that provide glimpses of the past, present, and future. You’ll laugh! (And maybe knowingly cringe!)
I’m offering 50% off tickets for Scrappy Subscribers if you purchase between now and midnight on August 11.
Our fall show will take place during Menopause Awareness Month on October 14. Submissions are now open. If you’ve got a real-life story about (peri)menopause or a fierce tale about other transitions in midlife or beyond, submit it soon.
Let’s Eat Cookies and Talk About Death
Join me on Tuesday, August 18, at 7 PM for Let’s Eat Cookies and Talk About Death: An Open-Ended Conversation. Learn more and save your spot here.
The conversation will take place at Kneads and Wants in downtown Skokie (which is hopping these days, so allow at least 10 minutes for parking).
A $5 ticket will reserve your spot. And then I’ll give you back your $5 to put toward a beverage or snack from the cafe. (For $15, you’ll get $5 and a Scrappy Affirmations mug to take home!)
It’s okay to show up without a reserved spot, but plan to make a purchase to support our host.
July’s Stories of Life and Love Show was a master class in grief. A big thank you to our tellers: Angela Allyn, Beth Kander, Tim Schreiber, Michelle Tisdahl, and Susan Rashid Horn for showing us the many faces of grieving and teaching us so much along the way. Take a peek.
Thanks also to presenting sponsor, Eric Klein of Care Patrol North Shore, supporting sponsor, Philip Flores Jr of Cremation by Water.
The final Stories of Life and Love Show of the year will take place in November. Our theme will be a good goodbye. Pitch your story idea here.
Reach out if I can help your family or members of your organization talk about death, end-of-life, disposition options, or grief.
A Deep Appreciation for Nature
There’s no awe-full walk in the woods this month, but enjoy this poetic reel about my garden, which has 4,000 views. (I tagged onto what was an apparently trendy hashtag, #KindaChic. Don’t ask me what it means.)
Until Next Time
Lettuce is typically a key part of my diet, but having already experienced extreme gastrointestinal distress early this year, I’m staying away from it. I might give this a try, though.
Tick check, but make it sexy.
Check out this cool cyanotype art project.
Missed the July newsletter? Read it here.
I also added an old essay to my Substack and may continue to backfill it with old content that is currently offline.
Let me know what’s making you laugh or think these days.
Scrappy Affirmations normalizes being human in a complicated world. Our personal and corporate programs are based on four pillars: building community, instilling a deep appreciation of nature, participating in creative acts, and accepting mortality. Not coincidentally, these are the Big Things that helped me through grief after my son's death.