Ways To Help Teachers & More!
Plus, a simple tip to ease anxiety
You need a little elegance in your day, so here’s a photo of the late Diahann Carroll, the day after what would’ve been her 88th birthday.
In less glamorous news, I went to the dentist and had no cavities! This rarely occurs, despite my loyal love for flossing.
Here is a tip from my therapist for managing anxiety with positive distractions. I used it at the dentist and it helped. In your mind, pick a category that’s fairly neutral (like, say, Berries or Barn Animals or Stuff You Find At The Hardware Store) and name five of those things. Then just keep doing that with different categories. Don’t worry about getting it perfect. If you get stuck, move on to a different category.
I find that when I’m getting an invasive medical procedure and I’m awake for it, this technique helps me be slightly less tense. It also takes my focus off certain noises that might bother me otherwise. I suspect it may also help if one is nervous while traveling or in other situations.
Try it and let me know if it helps!
Don’t worry, I still require dental work that totals $2,995 out of pocket and we don’t know how much insurance will reimburse. Once again, I am reminded of the importance of mutual aid, charity, gifts and low- or no-interest loans. I have been very fortunate in my life to get help from family, friends, school, and even some of the less-shady loans I’ve gotten.
When a bill like that comes up, it’s easy for me to zoom in on shame (“I’m such a loser. I’ve spent too much money on bullshit in the past. Why don’t I have that saved up on reserve for an instance like this?”) rather than get into action (“Is this something I can reasonably put off for awhile? Could I do one of the procedures first and wait a few months for the other? Do they do payment plans? Would a family member lend me some or all of the money, with a clear plan to pay them back? Does the dental office offer gift certificates and could I tell friends and family about those in future for a birthday or holiday gift, since that’d be more useful than, like, a $25 gift card to Dunkin?” No disrespect to Dunkin, ever!)
Moving from shame into solution helps me feel better, and it also reminds me of how grateful I am to even have these different options. Anyway, I was reflecting on that and how I could use it to get into action. That’s why you’ll see a mix of links below to support various organizations, artists, and teachers I dig.
Also, this appointment at a very lovely office gave me a chance to wander scenic DUMBO, Brooklyn, to see what’s really happening Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass (tourism, construction and sweating!)
Don’t worry, I’ve also got some superficial recs for you this week, too! Not that the book pictured below is superficial. Fashion is art, and there’s nothing deeper and weirder and more meaningful than art (except, it is rumored, parenting). In addition, the book takes us through a raucous, terrifying, beautiful era in New York and beyond. It is, in its way, a more romantic and gorgeous love letter than many I’ve read that were written for a single person versus an art form.
I guess sometimes these newsletters are love letters to things I adore. Sincerity is not dead, it’s just dorky. I am, above all else, a big fucking dork.
Recommendations
Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate care to hundreds of thousands of patients since 1982.
Thank you to Patreon patron Ellen D. for recommending I Support The Girls, an organization that seeks to provide menstrual supplies and bras to poor and displaced folks who need them: “Our approach is multi-faceted, responsive, and scalable — thanks to people like you. We stand by women, girls and folks dealing with homelessness, domestic violence, poverty, cancer, large-scale disaster, incarceration…”
Here’s an essay I wrote a couple years ago about wish lists. It includes links to a few, some of which may still be active.
Here’s my sister-in-law’s preschool special education class wish list for the 2023-24 school year. It’s for a public school in my beloved home state of New Jersey.
Miry’s List is a wonderful organization.
It's the birthday of artist, activist, businessperson and human Sabrina Cognata. Here’s her Patreon and here’s her wish list. Go treat a lady.
I am reading and listening to (borrowed the book, bought the audiobook) The Chiffon Trenches by the late Andre Leon Talley, who passed away from a heart attack and complications from COVID-19 in 2022. His 2018 memoir is fascinating.
I listen often to Paul Bazely’s narration of Eknath Easwaran’s version of The Upanishads. Here’s the Audible link, but I’m sure you can find it on Libby and elsewhere, too.
The Southern Foodways Alliance is putting on their 2023 SFA Fall Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi: Where is the South? How do we identify its edges? Can we mark its coordinates with bourbon, catfish, and birria? Can we map our present South onto the culinary and labor landscapes that preceded it? And what does the tendency to define space with borders tell us about ourselves?
Have a great day, everybody. Thanks for being awesome. Special thanks to paid subscribers here and to Patreon folks.
Love,
Sara B.