What's Next? What's now!
Time to slow down summer. Plus, SYTYCD and Freeze Pops.
Lately, upon reaching for my phone in the morning, the first app I open is my Google Calendar. I am a Virgo so it’s color-coded with all sorts of entries, from workouts to meetings to dinners and lunches to Paris tours, events, caves, deadlines, and more.
What’s on tap for today? I want to know as if I didn’t also look at it before shutting down the night before, wondering: What’s on tap for tomorrow?
I’ll scroll through the following days and weeks, too, to see how they’re scheduled. Who am I hanging with: friends, acquaintances, or colleagues? Where am I eating: home or out? What sort of culture am I ingesting: music or art? How many more weeks ’til this trip or that trip? But also: What sort of downtime did I work in?
I take pride in making sure it’s all pretty balanced and I don’t burn out, in general, or on any one thing.
I know that I am not alone in this, yet the act of constantly checking the calendar makes me feel…lonely? (And I genuinely don’t feel lonely. Or alone, even. I like my own company, thankyouverymuch.) But, if I’m psychoanalyzing myself here, the constant checking strikes me as a sort of reassurance; a reminder that I have a full life despite (ahem, in light of!) living it mostly on my own. There is no one to share my Google Calendar with. No one to cross-reference dates or calls. I make the plans. I accept or decline the invites. I even choose the shade of blue or purple or green for one event over another: peacock vs. blueberry, lavender vs. grape, basil vs. sage. It’s all there, bright as a rainbow, so my life exists and all is good. Bon.
OK. So we have a reason. But while my singledom may contribute to my militant calendar scheduling and checking (and I italicize may because, again, I’m still a Virgo), it’s not the cause that makes me pause as much as the effect. (Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.)
See, by regularly checking my calendar I feel like I am moving from one day to another in constant anticipation of what’s next. By always looking forward, I’m rushing the present. To get to what, I don’t know. Seeing my family and nephew back in the States? Summering the way I love most: on a boat or by the beach? My birthday at the end of August? The day my book is sold? Do I need to answer this? No? Great, thanks.
But, put simply, a schedule is there to remind us of what’s on tap so that we don’t forget—certainly not to rush what’s on it. While there’s nothing wrong with “looking forward”—and we certainly say it a lot as a pleasantry (“Looking forward to meeting you!” “Looking forward to seeing you again!” etc.) — it feels different, more positive even, than “what’s next” as if “what’s now” isn’t as important.
So! In an attempt to not blink and miss my favorite season, let alone life itself (cue: Ferris Bueller voiceover), I’m going to try my best not to look at my calendar so much. I will rely on the notifications I set to alert me of scheduled stuff and just enjoy “what’s now,” slowly, slowly. Doucement.
Bon week-end, friends. xx — Sara
Clickable
I love Marseille. | (Me for) Travel & Leisure
“What if we cared for the world’s future inhabitants like aunts?” | Noema
This lovely obit is causing some drama in the press. | Patriot News/Twitter
Do you know the six forces of friendship? | The Atlantic
Take a walk on Paris’s more wild side. | National Geographic
Novelist Dave Eggers visited a school that banned his book. | WaPo
“They/themness is everywhere.” | The Cut
Adam Platt, food critic, signs off in style. | Grub Street
Meet the French Jewish maker of the abortion pill. | The New Yorker
A mother and teen find connection through music. | Wired
“We want to further explain our butter” and other issues at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. | Eater
Watchable
“So You Think You Can Dance” is back after a far-too-long hiatus with all new judges, only one of whom I can tolerate. (Hint, it’s Twitch.) It wasn’t on this week so I coped by rewatching this dance by Alexis and Keaton. It was choreographed by Talia Favia and performed to “Rome” by Dermot Kennedy, which I am also now obsessed with. Don’t you just love when music and movement make you FEEL something?
Currently Overthinking…
…trains vs. planes… Airbnbs vs. hotels…dress sizes (small vs. medium)…
Souvenir: Freeze Pops
We’re in for another heatwave here in Paris, which got me thinkin’ of ways to cool down, which got me thinkin’ of those sickeningly-sweet, artificially-flavored frozen water pops we ate as kids. Looking back, the taste was pretty terrible, and yet what a thrill to suck on that plastic (after tearing it open like a pro with your teeth) down to the last liquid drop! Eater even did a deep dive on ’em a couple of years ago.
Don’t forget: Sponsoring a souvenir is a perk of being a paid subscriber.
I love SYTYCD, and I thought I was the only one. My boyfriend teases me about watching "that Dancing with the Stars show" and I'm like "shut up, go watch another episode of The Rehearsal." And yes, the judges are mostly intolerable, but weren't they always?