NftM #4: I’ve nothing but my name

Hi,

We’re one more week into this. Hopefully, it’s one week closer to getting back to something closer to normal. 

Last night I finally finished a large, old journal I had been using on and off since October 2014. Reading some of the old entries now, in 2020, in the middle of everything that’s happening, fills me with longing for the person I used to be back then. 28-year-old me, a student overseas in a beautiful country and in a happy relationship would’ve never imagined who would be finishing the last page of that journal almost six years from then.

Starting a new journal felt like shedding my skin, starting anew, moving past what I lost over those years—money, career prospects, a relationship I thought would last forever—to look to the future with clarity, even excitement.

Yes, we can barely see the future beyond the fog of disease, crisis, and uncertainty. But just because we can’t see it, it doesn't mean it isn’t there. We do have a future. It might be tough, but we can still make it work.

Here are some links for your reading pleasure:

1. You know when you go to a large museum and at the end of the day and you’re too fatigued to even register the artworks you’re seeing? The same thing happens with music. To help, start listening with intention. 

2. Here are some quirky statues. 

3. Ditch Google Maps. Getting lost is the best way to get to know a city. 

4. Bored at home? Check out these five free MoMA courses.

5. How art helps us reflect not only about love and beauty but also about our own mortality.  

6. Watch this painting come alive in a fascinating restoration.

7. Even if you don’t cook, you’ll love this gorgeous cooking videos. It has cats, too, if you need more convincing. 

8. A coworker once told me that the worse she felt, the more effort she put into wearing some make-up and nice clothes to help her feel better. Turns out, it works.

9. Lana Del Rey gives us a sneak peek of her new poetry book, ‘Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass.’

10. Lockdown playlists If you’re like me, you've been listening to the same music on repeat for days, maybe even weeks. But that gets old after a while. Folks at Pitchfork have shared some of their lockdown playlists for your listening pleasure. 

Photo: Cecilia Morales

5 things I hate about you

1. The fog you left behind after your last disappearing act. 

2. The phantom that took your place. It has your face and your voice; its hands shake all the time, just like yours; it crumples his napkins after using them and leaves them, dirty and forgotten, on the table for days, just like you did.

3. The insurmountable, ever-growing distance between me and the memory of you.

4. The cold voice saying ‘I don’t love you’ plunging a knife into my heart from the depths of the dream turned nightmare.

5. The armour of shiny, cold, impenetrable martyrdom you brought from your last trip overseas.

That’s it for this week, folks. Have you found something cool on the internet you'd like to share? I’d love to know. Drop me a line at [email protected] or give me a shout on Twitter.

Do you want more cool stuff on your inbox every week? Make sure to subscribe and share with friends.

Thanks.

Cecilia