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But there’s reason to believe we might make it to the other side.

The world is falling apart – the US is collapsing – but standing there at the top of a green hill crowned by a temple in the golden light of a setting sun in Kyoto felt like a prayer.

Someone tell Chappell.

Because the alternative is despair.

My Covid orchid will re-bloom for the fifth time in about two weeks, right on schedule. A friend gifted it to me in June of 2020 when we were finally able to see each other again after months of avoiding public transportation and other people, in general. I’d never successfully kept an orchid alive long enough to experience its re-bloom but in 2020 I did. I remembered what I’d learned working in a flower shop in Chicago in the early aughts:

“My kids – one in 8th grade and one in 4th grade – were on break from their NYC public schools last week and we spent the time off in…”

“I was watching an AOC Live the other day on Instagram – the one where she’s knitting – and she was talking about the importance of self-regulation and cultivating joy during these wild times we’re living through…”

“One thing – ok, two things – I keep hearing since the election, and especially since the inauguration last month is to focus on community and to not let the bad guys steal your joy. Joy is an act of resistance, I keep hearing, and I believe it…”

The other day I Googled “cute sneakers for plantar fasciitis” and realized that if ages had phrases, that one would belong to 48. That’s how old I am – old enough to need support sneakers and young enough to still care that they’re stylish…

“Well, 2025 is off to quite a start, huh? Like many of you, 2025 has already brought up for me some complicated thoughts about social media…”