Caught In My Web 🕸️

Things I am currently reading/watching/contemplating #29

Art by Jocelyne De Lioncourt

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We splashed in ocean waves on Wednesday under the full moonlit sky in celebration of the Strawberry Moon 🍓

It was heaven on earth.

The lowest hanging moon New Yorkers will see until 2042. A lunistice that takes place every 18.6 years.

It was one of the best nights of my life. Zero exaggeration. We were the only bodies on the beach. Joe fished. We built a fire. I conversed with my guides and ancestors, dipping my toes into the cool waters of Mother Ocean. I felt life and love move through my body and soul as I thanked all for this moment in time.

A baby thresher shark even came to say hello by flapping onto the shore (Joe swiftly returned it to its rightful depth).

An offering from Earth acknowledging us acknowledging her.

Nothing makes me more grateful to be alive than nature and love.

I live for simple pleasures.

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My people born between 1981-1996…you alright? It’s been a time, hasn’t it? I still want my 5 years back that feels lost from the pandemic.

Everyone else, are you hanging in there?

I commented with the candidate’s name I was going to vote for in the NYC mayoral election on a Substack post, and the number of times I was called an idiot, ret*rded, insane, etc., by people who don’t even live in NYC AND CANNOT VOTE IN THE ELECTION was the most hilarious/pathetic activity to witness. As if their brains failed to develop past the age of 13. 😩 (These were 60-something-year-old men and women). I even got called a Jew hater by some miserable woman by the name of CK Steefal (which some of you here are subscribed to 🫠) all because I’m against the murdering/starving of other humans.

Hateful, ignorant, no photo profiles calling me names doesn’t bother me; it’s like getting mad at cockroaches for being cockroaches, but I draw the line and revoke kindness when you imply that I have hate in my heart. 

I put this in a paid newsletter some months ago: IN THE WORDS OF THE GREAT ERYKAH BADU, “Look… I choose peace but, say… Don’t walk up on me wrong… This Tea and Incense can turn into Colt 45 and Newports if NEED be… OK?”

No truer words were ever spoken.

If you’re going to pick up the pen and write, you must reflect on the times and be a voice for the voiceless. Otherwise, you need to go dance little 40-second jigs on TikTok and throw your pen in the river/ocean/forest. 

Talk to your families, talk to your friends, talk to your audience that you’ve cultivated on social media, even if it’s only 50 people. I do most of my work in real life, speaking with my actual community and on Instagram, as that is where I have the largest audience. 

It is not business as usual. Now is the time to fight. Are you brave enough? And if the answer is no, let’s work to change that. How can I help?

This work looks different for everyone and there is always a place for you in it. You don’t even need to do it publicly, so much good goes on behind the scenes.

While you’re doing this work (hopefully) make sure you’re taking walks outside, taking breaks from the news and social media, and trying to find some joy at least three times a day. We humans annoyingly need to be reminded of the most obvious actions of care; I know I do, and it’s nice when someone asks me things like, have you drank enough water today? It forces me to check in with myself in a way that slips my mind when I’m deep in the trenches of living through *waves hands all around* all this. 

Have you drank enough water today?

Water is the life force. Go fill your water bottle and DRINK!

Power to the people always.

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I’ve been writing to remind myself of the Old Ways of my people. I’m helping remind others of their Old Ways, and I want to meet in the middle of curiosity and connection, exchanging information and becoming better for it. 

If you’d like to join us, you can find it behind the paywall. It is a sacred space in a sacred time of nurturing that requires the protection of good intentions and fierce mothering.

As my ancestors have said time and time again…Remember the Old Ways, mijita.
It may be time for you to remember, too. 🔮

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Here is this week’s Caught In My Web 🕸️:

🕸️ Current read:

This is my book club's June pick, and I love it so far. However, after a hectic week, I haven't made as much progress as I would like. I've heard great things from people who have excellent book taste and I’m ready to dive back in. Have you read it?

🕸️ I watched Violette this week. My sister and I would watch this film almost weekly from 2015 to 2016—it was our comfort movie at the time. It tells the story of Violette Leduc during the last years of World War II, her journey to becoming a writer, and her relationship with Simone de Beauvoir. Emmanuelle Devos is captivating as Leduc; a gaping wound that never seals, Devos’ eyes hold such heavy sorrow. There is a scene where Leduc is writing by candlelight in the country about a past love affair while it’s raining outside that feels as if you’re witnessing magic. Ahhh, to be in France, half mad, half genius in unrequited love with...everyone. It is one of my favorite films, and if you’re an artist and haven’t yet seen it, watch it immediately.  

🕸️ The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is here!

🕸️ Drinking Coffee Linked to Healthy Aging in Middle-Aged Women. GLUG GLUG GLUG ☕️

🕸️ These birds carry a toxin deadlier than cyanide. Hooded pitohuis carry batrachotoxin. The toxin is deadlier than cyanide and is among the most lethal substances in the animal kingdom. It’s the same substance found in certain poison dart frogs halfway round the world. FASCINATING!!!

🕸️ I tried the PIGMA MICRON PN last week and it’s a great pen. I’m happy to add it to my collection and I’ve been using it regularly. Very fun to write with and I like the particular boldness of the lines. Medium scratch.

🕸️ The biggest winner and pen change came from

Natalie McGlocklin

’s suggestion. The Staedtler triplus fineliner is my new favorite! They are almost identical to the Sharpie FINE 0.4mm but less expensive and with a better tip and bolder lines. I’m not sure if their ink lasts over 20 years like the Sharpie (the words in my journals from over 24 years ago are still pristine), but I’m willing to find out. Thank you to Natalie, and thank you to all of you who shared your favorite pens in the comments. 🤩 Light scratch.

🕸️ Dahomey directed by Mati Diop is the next doc on my watchlist.
Twenty six royal treasures from Dahomey, exhibited in Paris, are returned to Benin. Diop artistically expresses a new generation's demands for repatriation.

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What Has Been Caught In Your Web 🕸️This Week?

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Love always,

Jenovia

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