Keep loving each other

Even though it's tough out there

Hello friends and fellow humans,

Happy Pride month! It’s been harder than usual to write this hope-centered newsletter—I don’t need to tell you that the geo-political landscape has been (beyond) intense, here in Minnesota, and elsewhere around the world. The most hopeful people I know are working to make the world—and their relationships—better through protest, creative acts, and thoughtful conversations. We can all boost our hope right now by staying connected.

In May, my family did “the whole thing” (as my daughter Eden says). For Eden’s annual birthday dance party, we dressed up as our favorite pop stars, pictured here with my amazing neighbor, whose Joni Mitchell costume was as good as it gets.

Plus, we had the requisite end-of-the-school-year celebrations and my son’s beautiful Bar Mitzvah. It was joyful, full of love, and exhausting, which is very on-brand for my family.

Everyone’s got so much going on, and also, isn’t it so amazing that we’ve made it this far? That we get to be alive and here in this moment that will never happen again quite like this? Being a caregiver and living with grief makes the highs high and the lows low, and it’s never boring. I don’t take the good stuff for granted.

It’s also made me a hopemonger (which I just found out is an actual word). Like everyone, I know no one will hand hope to me, so I scan for it. As it turns out, in adulthood, we have to make our own dress-up parties.

Three things bringing me hope right now:

The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life by Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer with Allison Gilbert and Pierre Lehu

Thank you to Nina Badzin of Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship for exploring this book in one of her podcast episodes. The legendary Dr. Ruth knows what she is talking about when it comes to building relationships despite the challenges of life—she was separated from her family at age ten and sent to Switzerland for safety, where she grew up in an orphanage. The rest of her family were killed by Nazi’s and still, despite the horrific trauma she endured, Dr. Ruth went on to be one of the leading experts on human connection. The book is full of wisdom, personal stories, and practical tips.

On Being with Krista Tippett; Ross Gay On the Insistence of Joy

I have revisited this podcast conversation multiple times, and each time I get new inspiration. Gay reflects on lessons from his iconic “The Book of Delights” and explores what a spiritual practice of finding joy and delight can look like, even amidst suffering.

Maggie Rogers: The Truth About Dreams, The New York Times

This essay is adapted from Roger’s commencement address to the graduates of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and I’m a sucker for motivating graduation speeches. I love a pep talk, especially about the long arc of the creative process.

I hope you get time in the sun and breaks from whatever is keeping you going during the day (or up at night). And I hope you get some conversations with people who lift you up. If not in person, pick up the phone and call. It matters! What we do matters, even in small, everyday ways.

Let’s do the whole thing,

Emma

Ps. I’m teaching a class, “How to Write a Powerful Memoir,” this Thursday, June 26th from 9:30-noon at ModernWell in Minneapolis. There are just a few spots left—I would love to see you there.