!! Thank you for this. Hearing from everyone is my favorite part of this whole substack endeavor so it's a joy to read this comment! <3 Thank you for reading and commenting.
Same! Been watching the same you tube videos of these families in Azerbaijan (and other places I can’t spell) for a couple years now.. Sometimes it’s the older adult son cooking a whole goat in a mud- made pit, sometimes it’s grandma bottling vegetables or berries or making some delicious looking treat. The children happily playing with their kittens or feeding their gaggle of chickens or ducks. Seems as if Everything is harvested or grown on their land. As you watch grandma you know she has been doing these things since she was very young, taught by her mother, who was taught by her own mother. And sometimes it takes her the entire day to cook these meals. These videos soothe me precisely because of the sounds of the countryside and the lack of conversation. Spending a few months doing the same is a lovely idea to me…
YES. You get it! You watch and know they've been doing this since they were single digits old. Could do it in their sleep. And there is typically a sense of calm and/or stoicism that pervades their entire being. They are tough as nails. This one is a fave too > https://www.youtube.com/@FarawayVillage
Watching other women cook is a proverbial mother’s palm on the fevered forehead of my melancholy.
Thoughts come unbidden.
Human existence is run-on sentences of mundanity punctuated by the exclamation marks of agony and joy.
You are the woman disassociating in her bed trying to find her way back by seeing herself in all of you.
I love this whole damn thing. Maaaaaaaybe might be my new favorite. Fucking fuck, you’re a great worderer… I always wonder if most everything you write is so universally relatable and accurate to the overall experience of current humans, or if I just know you so intimately that I am able relate in a parallel way as if I am in your head… but the scale tips heavy on the universal relation in your words. I admire your writing in the same way I admire a wonderful and interesting painting, or a beautifully crafted song.
Hi! I do this (the weird, WHY AM I THINKING THIS thoughts) all of the time and have my entire life. It fascinates me because it's like a choice. I'm choosing to chop vegetables and not hack my family to bits. All of these people in this room are choosing to stay clothed and not have a big, gross, stinky orgy. All of the people in this room take shits. I could shit right here, but I'm choosing not to.
You're not a weirdo. Maybe you are? Eh, who cares?
And the only good thing about Hemingway are the descendants of his six toed cats. I'm sick of old, massively alcoholic and depressed white men and their stories, and their celebration. Bukowski was a gremlin, and Hemingway was a bore.
There is beauty in the mundane, as well as comfort. As I sail through the seasons of my life, sometimes the subtlety of how the mundanity changes yet stays the same, breaks my heart, but makes me feel alive. It's a wild ride, even at its dullest moments.
And yes. Driving a car and think: with the flick of my wrist I could kill everyone here (thought with no malice, just fact) and then think of what the crash scene would look like.
In a meeting: what if I just took off my shirt right here, what would everyone do?
Standing at edge of building: I could just jump, what would those first seconds be like?
What a joy it is to get notified of a new piece written by you. Seriously amazing, as always.
It’s so nice to feel seen. Thank you!
!! Thank you for this. Hearing from everyone is my favorite part of this whole substack endeavor so it's a joy to read this comment! <3 Thank you for reading and commenting.
Also, any idea how you streamed the movie you were discussing?
if you watch, I'd be interested to hear back (even if you hate it!) especially since, like me, you have a thing for village life on YouTube :)
I watched it on MAX. If you don't have that you may have to rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime or YouTube -->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKWDF0-VGtc
Same! Been watching the same you tube videos of these families in Azerbaijan (and other places I can’t spell) for a couple years now.. Sometimes it’s the older adult son cooking a whole goat in a mud- made pit, sometimes it’s grandma bottling vegetables or berries or making some delicious looking treat. The children happily playing with their kittens or feeding their gaggle of chickens or ducks. Seems as if Everything is harvested or grown on their land. As you watch grandma you know she has been doing these things since she was very young, taught by her mother, who was taught by her own mother. And sometimes it takes her the entire day to cook these meals. These videos soothe me precisely because of the sounds of the countryside and the lack of conversation. Spending a few months doing the same is a lovely idea to me…
Wonderfully written essay. Hang in there.
YES. You get it! You watch and know they've been doing this since they were single digits old. Could do it in their sleep. And there is typically a sense of calm and/or stoicism that pervades their entire being. They are tough as nails. This one is a fave too > https://www.youtube.com/@FarawayVillage
Thanks for reading <3
That was a damn good read, Monica! 💛
Aw, thank you for reading and taking time to comment. Hearing from people means a lot to me ❤️
Watching other women cook is a proverbial mother’s palm on the fevered forehead of my melancholy.
Thoughts come unbidden.
Human existence is run-on sentences of mundanity punctuated by the exclamation marks of agony and joy.
You are the woman disassociating in her bed trying to find her way back by seeing herself in all of you.
I love this whole damn thing. Maaaaaaaybe might be my new favorite. Fucking fuck, you’re a great worderer… I always wonder if most everything you write is so universally relatable and accurate to the overall experience of current humans, or if I just know you so intimately that I am able relate in a parallel way as if I am in your head… but the scale tips heavy on the universal relation in your words. I admire your writing in the same way I admire a wonderful and interesting painting, or a beautifully crafted song.
🫠♥️
Hi! I do this (the weird, WHY AM I THINKING THIS thoughts) all of the time and have my entire life. It fascinates me because it's like a choice. I'm choosing to chop vegetables and not hack my family to bits. All of these people in this room are choosing to stay clothed and not have a big, gross, stinky orgy. All of the people in this room take shits. I could shit right here, but I'm choosing not to.
You're not a weirdo. Maybe you are? Eh, who cares?
And the only good thing about Hemingway are the descendants of his six toed cats. I'm sick of old, massively alcoholic and depressed white men and their stories, and their celebration. Bukowski was a gremlin, and Hemingway was a bore.
There is beauty in the mundane, as well as comfort. As I sail through the seasons of my life, sometimes the subtlety of how the mundanity changes yet stays the same, breaks my heart, but makes me feel alive. It's a wild ride, even at its dullest moments.
You should win a trophy for this comment. 😂♥️
And yes. Driving a car and think: with the flick of my wrist I could kill everyone here (thought with no malice, just fact) and then think of what the crash scene would look like.
In a meeting: what if I just took off my shirt right here, what would everyone do?
Standing at edge of building: I could just jump, what would those first seconds be like?
Exactly!!
😂
Holy fucking shit, M. And goddamn, YES.
🥰 Your audio message was the sweetest little thing I ever heard ♥️
🫀🫠