Archive | Spirit Matters

Clear Is the New Cozy

With the holidays in the rearview mirror and the year still shiny and new, Capricorn season doesn’t preclude fun but it also doesn’t brook with dissociation. I’m all for hygge, that Danish embrace of everything cozy–fur slippers, crackling fires, hot toddies, the works. But I’m also a fan of the deep digging we do this time of year. Wrapped in layers and quiet by the hearth, we have the time and space to consider where we’re going, and climb into projects that go unattended when temperatures soar. To help you build those little houses in the big woods (and big houses in little woods!), I’ll be doing Ruby Intuition readings in Lambertville, NJ, at the delightful homestead of Katie Albert Bolton on Saturday, 1/13, and by appointment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and by Skype all through this month. To schedule a session, RSVP at [email protected]. The wind on your back may be glacial but it also can steer you where you need to go.

The House of Sunshine Compensation

Today is what they’re calling a bomb cyclone–a hurricane-cum-snow and ice storm made possible by our brand new climate. Outside the heavens rage, but I did my due diligence and am prepared for their wrath. Bagels and cat food sit pretty on the counter, produce and protein line the refrigerator, house is scrubbed clean. I have books and notebooks and candles stacked by my armchair, whiskey and a tumbler by the turntable, a kitten at my feet. But it’s into the kitchen that I putter as the world blurs white and lights flash off and on.

I may be old-fashioned, but I prefer my kitchen to be devoid of electricity anyway. I keep the lights off during the day, and eschew unnecessary gadgets, including toasters, food processors, and juicers. Eating and cooking is one way we still connect to the cycle of life, and I like to feel all the unadulterated core elements- earth, sun, water, fire–as I step into that flow. This morning the world is furious, and I am glad to know. I squeeze sunshine into a glass and dream of warmer days.

Snowdazed in Brrrrrooklyn

Growing up in New England, the land of eternal blizzards and subzero temps, I learned to hate snow, just hate it. I devirginized a guy in the snow when I was 16 and he was 17 and nothing about it was romantic or idyllic. All I could think was: Jesus, this is a stupid idea, I have snow in every crack. But living in NYC, the snow has its charms. It transforms our worst into kids with saucer eyes and wonder in their hearts, for one thing. On the subway, even the most snarly UES social X-ray or OG manspreader is as cute as a button, all zipped up and snuggly in layers upon layers like a Star Wars character we haven’t met yet. I send love to every single person in my finely feathered city. Stay warm, you crazy apples.

"All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love."
― Leo Tolstoy