jacaranda season

lessons in blooming

substack #22

I turned thirty one yesterday.

If you haven’t already, as a gift to me, take some time to send some love and fill out the annual birthday survey.

Shout out to the phenomenal Sabrina Hersi Issa for creating and sharing practice with me (love you!) Reading through all the ways ya’ll love on yourselves brings me so much joy.

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Things helping me figure shit out:

People who say Los Angeles has no seasons are not paying attention.

If you’ve been here long enough, you know that early Fall brings hot Santa Ana winds, precursors to the light dusting of ash of wild fire season. Early Summer is a trudge through June gloom which quickly fades into the sweaty sticky bedsheets of summer heatwaves. And every winter we welcome one or two city stopping rain storms, complete with heavy drizzle and some LA gridlock.

But of all our seasonal markers, my favorite will always be the jacaranda bloom.

While the east coast is famous for the pink hue that the cherry blossoms bring, Los Angeles is home to the purple reign of the Jacaranda tree. The Jacaranda bloom is activated by heat. So our cold spring has this year’s bloom starting a bit late. But once the bloom starts, the season shift is impossible to ignore.

I am so incredibly grateful to be here to witness another Jacaranda bloom in LA.

Birthdays always bring me to a space of reflection, and lately I’ve been working on creating systems and circumstances to help myself bloom. While I’m still learning and growing, what I do know is that being present has been key.

Some things that are true for me this jacaranda season:

💜 being present makes it impossible for me to be in denial

💜 being present makes it possible for me to access simplicity

💜 being present helps me move out of judgement and into observation

Again, if you haven’t already, as a gift to me please take some time to fill out my annual birthday survey.

I’ll see you next month with updates, offerings, and some new changes to this newsletter.

Wishing you restful days and peace of heart and mind,

B 

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The literal meaning of Mash’Allah is "God has willed it", in the sense of "what God has willed has happened"; it is used to say something good has happened, used in the past tense.

Thank you to all the new subscribers! This newsletter began as an exploration of figuring shit out, one day at a time. So happy you’re here with me. Special thanks to Dylan and Sara for upgrading to a paid subscription. Paid subscriptions directly support me and things like art supplies, residency applications, and other studio costs.

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Upcoming Things

I’ll be speaking at Thank You Life’s public launch next month sharing a bit about how abolition, access, and anti-carceral care have informed my experience with psychedelic assisted therapy. Join them for their virtual launch and celebrate increased access to psychedelic therapy and care.

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