Sunday Candy #21

You're Not Stuck, Walking Notes, Little Joys, Chaotically Ambivalent

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✨You’re Not Stuck

I stumbled upon something the other day.

While shuffling through the mess I like to pretend isn’t living inside one of my drawers, I found this index card. 

I wrote this quote and thumbtacked it to my wall sometime in the spring of 2021. It’s funny to look at now. At the time, I was mostly trying to convince myself what it said was true.

I was entrenched in the weight of what was probably ten years of stuckness and the toll of the pandemic thrusted me into the depths of depression. On a leave of absence and trying to wrap my head around the uncertainty and fear that would come with me officially leaving my job and no longer having any income or sense of security, I clung onto any sliver of hope I could.

So often, words have been that hope for me. It’s odd because even as a lover of words, I can often find them overwhelmingly hollow. My own words and those of others have, at times, been insufficient, and failed or betrayed me before. And silly little quotes and clichés, sometimes they feel like nothing, and other times they feel like everything. I guess that was a time where I needed them to feel like everything because I had nothing.

But I like that I don’t have to convince myself of the truth in these words anymore. Rereading this quote, I believe it. Sometimes I forget it’s true and need a reminder, but even now, as I continue to sit in uncertainty, I believe it.

And in reflecting on this, I’m once again reminded of the importance of words and the responsibility we carry when we choose to use and share them.

So if you’re sitting in some sense of stuckness and need a reminder, as I sometimes do, I’ll say this:

Nothing is permanent.

You’re not stuck.

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🗒️ Walking Notes

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😌 Little Joys

🖼️ Claes Oldenburg's I Am for an Art from 1961. I first encountered this when I was 18 years old and I find myself revisiting it every now and then. Here’s one of my favorite lines: “I am for an art that takes its forms from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.”

🎵Bloc Party's This Modern Love performance from A Take Away Show filmed in the streets of Paris back in 2008. Shout out to

John Absher

for sharing this with me. Note the lack of cellphones while the crowd quietly listens and watches. It's intoxicatingly sentimental.

🎥 Amy’s “Marriage is an economic proposition” speech from Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. At this point, I’ve rewatched this scene more times than I can count. I think it’s perfect. After rereading Louisa May Alcott’s timeless novel last year, my love for Little Women only continues to grow.

What little joys have you basked in recently? Anything new you’ve come across or something old you’ve revisited that’s made your heart sing?

If so, please share. Your joy is my joy.

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🎶 Playlist: Chaotically Ambivalent

Because we can’t start off the new year without a Sunday Candy playlist, right?

Click album to listen on Spotify :)

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That’s a wrap on issue #21 of Sunday Candy!

Happy New Year to you, friend. And hey, I hope your year is filled with immense amounts of whimsy, courage, play, connection, security, and whatever else you need and want for yourself. I think you can have it all.

But I have one request.

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.”

—Mary Oliver

Until next time.

Stay tender,

Sandra

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