A very cool woman I met through my last adventure in job-land, the one that dumped a group of us into limbo-ville while rubbing our metaphorical eyes and massaging our rears, wrote on our group chat during a mental-wellness check-in: “Functional existence, lacking joy but believe I am still capable of it!” The exclamation point was the thing that resonated. I have felt a few things in the last week that have lifted me and that have a thread running through: the excellence of friends—whether known and dear for decades or newly met and sure to be fab in the future. Even when discussing things less than wonderful, the connection is warm.

Also, this little ditty from Henry Rollins (sweet Hank) who was an OG member of Black Flag one of the seminal punk rock bands from Orange County, CA, during my teenage-riot dayz. On a random Instagram post in some interview he did on a reel I found, he says about this time we’re living in, “This is not a time to be dismayed. This is punk rock time. This is what Joe Strummer trained you for. It is now time to go. You’re a good person. That means more now than ever.” So, how to channel the dismay into motivation? Currently exploring.

Also, because yes, I love to write, I’m also now going to maybe chat. Into an audio file, which I’m going to post. Ruminations on things that are moving me forward.