To Taste May, Twice.
To believe that in writing, we relive.
I became acquainted with Anaïs Nin while singing Jewel at the top of my lungs, following the lyrics booklet of my favorite CD. (Yes, I was that girl. Still am, really. Jewel fan forever..)
What could possibly make my namesake, Anaïs, so worthy of a song?
And after some light research, I soon realized that her words made her worthy of the song. (We not only shared a moniker, but also a love for words).
In fact, one of her quotes that actually got lattes & wine started in the first place:
"We write to taste life twice….. in the moment and in retrospect."
— Anaïs Nin
How powerful.
To believe that in writing, we relive.
That in retrospect there’s a revival.
And I've found this to be very poetic, but also very true. Writing, (or attempting to write, that is) not only helps me find intelligibility through reflection, but also gives a new flavour to the experience.
Making the experience permanent through words gives it a new meaning.
I’ve come to call it clarity.
I like to think of this process as the untangling of convoluted thoughts that, like knotted yarn, seem to have no beginning and no end, until each thread reveals its path and direction, now ready to be knit.
So, yes. In writing, I have found the spindle of my mind. One that helps me process, make sense of, and find meaning in what I've lived.
Writing threads my thoughts.
So, when May came to an end, I wanted to wrap up the month with things I discovered, lived, and experienced… in an attempt to —you guessed it—taste life twice.
And, so I made a list.
I love lists. (They help clear the clutter as well).
To Taste May, Twice.
1. Not being in a hurry.
No need to say much more. This just deserves a place on the top of this list.
It is the first time, since 2009, that I am not in a hurry. Which is why I wrote a whole essay on this feeling here. And I have to admit it, even coffee tastes different.
Yet, I want to be in a hurry, my body feels something is off without the rush, but it has been so refreshing. It has also awakened old demons, but I am not complaining. I feel ready to face them now.
2. Life does not wait.
(“la vida no esperaaaaa”- lyrics to a song that gets me through tough trainings. Vida Nueva By Pablo Pablo).
Life just happens. One moment you're starting the week, the next you're wondering where it went. Life moves fast when you're not looking.
Which is just what happened between the end of May and today. This post was meant to be the first of a series, published on the first day of the month…which slowly turned into halfway through the month. In a blink of an eye.
And as the years begin to add up, the idea of procrastinating things feels like the path for having life just slip by.
So ready, or not, here I go. And I plan to be looking.
3. The Tell by Amy Griffin
This was one of those books you pick up and cannot put down until it's done. I guess it hits a nerve as a runner and overachiever. There’s a deeper, more complicated underlying theme around abuse that provides a much more relevant topic to discuss: the author’s vivid journey in healing and shedding light to fight and prevent abuse.
However, there is something that touches all of us who have found a refuge from something, whatever that might be, in running.
I loved it. A real page-turner.
4. Oprah’s book club.
I don't know why it took me so long to actually follow Oprah's book club on Instagram. The books that I have stumbled upon that happen to have made the list are outstanding. I’ll make sure I now intentionally include them in my next book selections.
Upcoming next: The Emperor of Gladness.
5. Nail concealer.
Did you know this is a thing!? I did not, and I wish I had.
The discovery deserved to make it to the list. Game changer, at least for me.
I have complicated hands. It’s almost impossible to make them look good, because I have very wide nail beds, and anything other than professionally applied ballet slipper-pink polish makes my nails look like M&Ms.
The thing with pale pink polish: it requires a steady hand to apply, which I DO NOT have.
Nail concealer is just that; beautiful ballet slippers polish, but made for application by dummies.
I. Love. It.
Makes my hands look polished (get it?) with low effort (or is it skill? Talent?). No more gel appointments that drain my non-employed finances.
Kids, tell your mothers. Nail concealer changes lives.
6. If you are not smiling you're doing it wrong.
7. The World’s Best Boss.
“I bought this for myself”.
It would be wrong if I did not give this part of me, a space on this list. I have missed my team every single day. The laughs. The tears. The sweat.
I miss the unsolicited life lessons that come with having talented people come to you for guidance.
I would have guessed that what I would be missing really, would be the “boss-lady” part of my personality that I began to mistake with my whole identity. “Who am I? Well, I lead the design team at XXXX”.
But I was wrong. It is not the title.
I miss the people.
The jokes. The mishaps.
And knowing that with every interaction, we were making ourselves grow.
8. The Wedding People
A light book with an underlying reflection of mid-life career relationships, motherhood and infertility, infidelity, depression, and marriage can take on any person. And also, how to rise above these topics, and begin to enjoy life without these societal expectations we often carry with ourselves.
9. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for cleaning sneakers and running shoes.
Squeaky. Just try it. Thank me later!
10. Done is better than perfect.
Lattes & wine was never conceived as a space for perfection. It was conceived as a space for active reflection. Yet, the perfectionist in me quickly gets stuck into attempting to make the writing— perfect. The wit – irresistible. The reflection – profound and awe striking.
And here, I find myself, reminding myself that that this is a space for pure expression, in all its imperfection.
Writing is not about striving for perfection but embracing the lack thereof as a foundation for creating change and growth.
Repeat after me-
Writing is not about striving for perfection but embracing the lack thereof as a foundation for creating change and growth.