😶🌫️ Finding Peace in a Gray Day
Letter 190
Aloha fellow learn-it-all 👋
Greetings from Petoskey, Michigan
It’s full of fog up here — gloomy and doomy.
Above is a school of geese about to rest on the lake. Usually this time of year it’s ice but I’m glad they get to go for a refreshing dip. Not pictured above are the massive bald eagles with white heads and deep yellow beaks that I saw soaring over the lake. It looked like they were looking for something to eat, like my fluffy gray cat. Not today my the national emblem friends.
I awoke after 11 hours of sleep. I didn’t even know that was possible. No voiceover this week as I’ve lost my voice, and instead, caught a cold.
I steeped a mug of sweet dreams sleepy tea when I woke up this morning because it was the only decaf beverage I could find. That is a synopsis of how life is going lately. It’s nice to be around other life forms though. My cousin made leftover kapusta. A Polish cabbage dish, usually for dinner, for breakfast. My other cousin rummaged throughout the place looking for coffee and found some in the freezer.
It’s getting to that point in holiday break where I feel blessed to be in the limbo state of forgetting which day of the week it is. I’m feeling much like Rainer Maria Rilke felt on April 5, 1903 in Viareffio near Pisa, Italy “not exactly sick but oppressed by a flu-like lassitude”.
Now, let’s dive into letter 190 from a learn-it-all. Enjoy!
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🌟Quote to inspire (1)
“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
🎥 Recording
Earlier this year I took my first acting class since college. For my final presentation, I decided a recite part of one of Austrian poet’s Rainer Marie Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet which was his correspondance with the nineteen-year-old cadet and aspiring poet Franz Xaver Kappus. I decided to recite part of Rilke’s 4th letter to Mr. Kappus.
I’m sharing this video for the mems moreso than for stellar quality. I hope to still get better at communicating ideas.
📖 Reading
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
I first listened to the translated version by Anita Barrows in February this year on a long drive up the west side of Waianae with mountains on my right and the ocean on my right.
I stumbled upon a physical version of this beautiful book last week in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at Off the Beaten Path bookstore.
Confession time: I haven’t been reading much at all lately. I can’t remember the last time I consecutively read a book so that means it’s been at least a few months. But change is on the horizon. With my bout of sickness, I’ve felt dazzled to read the most beautiful book I’ve ever owned, (which meant it was way more money that I usually spend on a book) that I bought.
Call me old fashioned but I found it quite astounding how different these translations come out looking. A part of me worries about the discernment that ChatGPT will use to widely translate books around the world.
Translated by M. D. Herter Norton:
“You must forgive me, my dear sir, for only today gratefully remembering your letter of February 24th: I have been unwell all this time, not exactly ill, but oppresses by an influenze-like lassitude that has made me incapable of anything. And finally, as I simply did not get better, I came to this southerly sea, the beneficence of which has helped me once before. But I am not yet well, writing comes hard to me, and do you must take these few lines for more.”
Translataed by Anita Barrows:
“Forgive me, dear sir, that I only remember your letter of February 24. I have been unwell this entire time, not exactly sick but oppressed by a flu-like lassitude that rendered me incapable of doing anything. Finally, as it hung on, I traveled to this southern shore whose healing effects had helped me once before. But I’m still not better. Writing continues to be hard for me, so please accept these few lines as more than they are.”
🌟Quote to inspire (2)
“A work of art is good if it is sprung out of necessity.” - Rainer Maria Rilke
(Norton translation)
❓Question to think about
What can I create out of necessity?
🖊️Writing
At the beginning of this year, I shared my three words as my intentions or themes and one of those was that I would search for ways to have peace.
Being that I’m sickly in bed has led me to forgetting what gives me peace. On my drive yesterday this made me think of creating my own “JV Peace sheet” consisting of scents, feelings, sights, sounds, quotes, notes, songs, and tastes. This also meant identifying some of the things that do not give me peace.
Having these lists is helping me remember some of my favorite things just like how Marie Andrew did in the Sound of Music in My Favorite Things in 1965.
I invite you to create your own Peace Sheet as well. Here’s the template.
Here’s my list. Enjoy and let me know if we share any similar ones :)
👃 Scents
Rain nearing
Eucalyptus leaves on my lanai
A bonfire
Fresh banana bread about to come out of the oven
Pink Island Sunset scented candles
👅 Tastes
Lemongrass tea
Honey
Pretzels dipped in apple juice
Dutch Komijn kaas cheese (gouda cheese with cumin seeds)
Gooey marshmallows on top of hot chocolate
Chewing Boba tea
Raspberries
Cheese and crackers as my go-to snack anytime of day
👂 Sounds
Cooing spotted doves
Roosters near to the time of sunrise
Waves crashing
Corn popping in the microwave before showtime
Rhyming words especially those by Dr. Seuss
🎼 Musicians
Anything piano played by Yiruma
Sean Angus Watson Radio on Spotify
Heard It In a Past Life Album by Maggie Rogers
Keep Going Album by Mike Ponser
🫰 Feelings
Gingko leaves
Plush Fuzzy socks
Getting sleepy seeds from my eyes in the morning
Floating on water
Steamy shower
Hot mug full of tea in my fingers
blue ink pouring out of my fountain pen
A fluffy smudgey cat curled up next to me
A silk robe
Child’s pose
Walking after a long run
Pigeon pose especially after a run
Calf lunge after a ski run
Taking off ski boots
Biking downhill
A neck massage
A chest opener on a foam roller
Sleepy spot massage right above my eyes and giving these to dogs and cats.
👁️ Sights
Rainbows right before golden hour
Glowing full moon radiating the world
Ripples of waves on the water signaling a piff with more breeze
Michigan or Miami or Detroit garb on strangers on the street
Sun peaking through the window in the morning
Dolphins dancing on the surface
Turtles floating up to breath
The happy horizon
🤪 Quirks
Being able to breath easier once the sail is up
Tying knots
Dictionary fetish. (I love to know the etymology)
Loves gifting card to people with poems
Always found with stationary nearby
like to understand Dutch words
📔 Notes to Self
Just because it’s been said doesn’t mean it’s been heard.
There’s no need to should on myself.
No need to feel like a victim, I can shift my perspective.
What you do is not who you are. But who you are drives what you do.
You will find clarity through action, not thought.
💬 Quotes
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” – Amelia Earhart
🙅🏻♀️ Anti-peace Sheet
👂 Sounds
Squeaking snow
Heavy metal
👅 Tastes
Olives
Sardines
Tomatoes on sandwiches
The green stuff that sterilizes your teeth at the dentist
Kapusta
🥴 Experiences
Needles entering my body
Shark fins
Turbulence with stomach dropping
Laughing gas
Too many plans
No satisfaction withiht finishing a task/ project
Anything constricting like a blood pressure wrap or a small jacket
Too small of a shower towel that doesn’t cover my body
Quarter-sized cockroaches scurrying on the ground
🔍Word to define
Quirk: a peculiar behavioral habit
Etymology
mid 16th century: of unknown origin. The early sense was ‘subtle verbal twist, quibble’, later ‘unexpected twist’.
📸Photo of the Week
Grateful to have these people in my life. My ohana <3
Clan Vermet til the day I die.
I appreciate you reading this!
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Never stop learning 😁
Mahalo 🌺
Jen
PS in case you missed last week, I shared my ⛷️ Steamboat Springs Ski Trip Reflections
If you’re reading this because someone shared this newsletter with you, welcome! I’d love it if you subscribed:
Good morning, Jenn! I enjoyed your lists in “Finding Peace.” Hope you’re feeling better and wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year!🌟🌟🌟
Say more about Gingko leaves! I grew up with these trees on my block and realized I’ve never had a conversation about them. What puts them at number one for you?