"One thing today, and another tomorrow"

It's the summer solstice AGAIN

I have walked these hills in the dark. When there is just enough light to see where you are putting your feet. When the tree canopy opens up to the sky and the light of a full moon shows the whole world in shades of grey. When the orange sulphur street lights glow through the branches as you approach the built up world again.

I have walked these hills in the dark in winter time.

Very early this morning, while it was still dark, the hills were full of people walking up to watch the solstice sun rise. I cannot imagine being up that early.

View from British Camp on the Malvern Hills by Andrew Price, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence.

This time last year I wrote about the urge to be that sort of person, and about the reality that I am not.

I will not walk in the dark in the summer.

This morning I woke up late. Satya and I have been looking at houses, and the night before a viewing I do not sleep well. Will this be the one? I wonder. I imagine myself living in the space, instead of sleeping.

This morning I woke up early. The mid-summer sun crept around the edges of my very thick eye mask. I rolled over and went back to sleep. And woke up again. And went to sleep again.

I think it is important to mark the seasons changing. We are so dependent on the natural world for our existence. More than that, we are not separate from the natural world. And here in this place the longest and the shortest day feel very different to one another. (At the equator, near to where humans first appeared in the world, there is no difference between the longest and shortest day, of course.)

I think it is important to mark time passing. It has been a year since I last reflected on the solstice. So much has changed in my own life in that time. So much has changed in the world. We can reflect on these very specific changes and on the nature of change itself.

I ache more than I ached last year.

This morning, I finished my yoga practice in happy baby. I used to wonder what the point of that pose was, and now I feel tightness in my groin and hips all the time and I know what the point is. My calves tighten up so easily and my feet hurt (these two things are connected).

Some of these things will get better again, and then they will get worse.

For the past couple of weeks I have been wondering how I would mark the solstice this year. I thought that I might read a poem in the garden.

All through June Satya has been sharing a poem a day as she invites people to connect more deeply with the Earth. This week she shared Camille T. Dungy’s Characteristics of Life.

Ah. This is the poem I will read in the garden.

Ask me if I speak for the moon jelly. I will tell you
                        one thing today and another tomorrow
        and I will be as consistent as anything alive
on this earth

Moon Jellyfish by Alexander Vasenin. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Other Important Things

DharmaStack was launched a week ago! Maia Duerr’s list of Buddhist or Buddhist inspired newsletters hosted on Substack. There are loads of good ones on there! Go have a look.

Amanda Hinton from The Editing Spectrum needs our help! I’ve love for you to fill out her survey and help shape the future of online writing.

Fill in the survey here: https://s.surveyplanet.com/kfbm1xpx

Amanda says that:

The trouble with online publishing is this: it's often impossible to clearly, reliably hear from readers about their experiences, pain points, and preferences for online reading. Today, together, we’re changing that. *Drumroll* The Shaping the Future of Online Writing survey is now LIVE!

This survey is a way to finally have a broader conversation between creators and readers. As a reader of newsletters, your answers will create a powerful ripple effect:

• They will help solve your biggest gripes about consuming content on Substack.

• They will shape the way creators connect with readers.

• They will lead to more engaging, relevant moments of connection.

• They will give creators a chance to deeply listen and for readers to be heard loudly and clearly.

Some basics:

• The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and is multiple choice (except for three optional write-ins at the end.

• We need at least 2,000 respondents for the survey to produce statistically relevant information. (Once you take the survey, please share it with others!)

• I’ll be asking you questions like: When you’re busy in the middle of the day but hop onto Substack anyways, what are you most likely doing? And What makes you feel most valued by a creator on Substack?

As a THANK YOU for answering these questions, I’ll be sharing free highlights from the results with my readers on The Editing Spectrum in July.

Let's work together to build a better reading experience. Your input matters, and we’re excited to hear from you!

Here’s the link again: https://s.surveyplanet.com/kfbm1xpx