#4: This sparks joy 💥💫
Happy Sunday, divine being!!!
Hello precious person,
It’s me, I wasn’t here last weekend because I was overcome with despair, but here I am, I’m back. I’m sending love your way. Last Sunday, I called my aunt because I love to lean on my elders when I feel despair. They bring me the perspective of a long struggle and they are so much more unafraid than me, it’s fascinating.
Today, I hope you drink something delicious and savor every drop! I hope you take time to breathe deeply, to reconnect with yourself and perhaps with someone you’ve lost touch with, and I hope you take time to detach from technology — stage small acts of rebellion agaisnt Big Tech. Today I have two questions for you:
What’s sparking joy for you lately?! Any recs for the rest of us?
How can you spark joy for someone today?!
Here’s this week’s list!
1. This tweet
2. This mix
It opens with this song which is truly a utopic vision that pleases me. I had to include the lyrics below!
“Last night I had a vision of a disco in the sky. I saw angels and saints dancing together. Like a mystical dream it clouded my mind but I remembered to move, I remembered that groove. I remember the thump of the bass and the pump of the kick, because my heart was almost out my body. I felt free, I felt joy, I felt things I never thought I′d feel before. It was deep, it was soulful, it was techno, it was disco… A kaleidoscope of sounds, it was, truly underground.
It was an essential mix in the clouds, where we could dance and sing out loud, and everybody loved everybody else. There was no hurt, there was no sorrow, there was no pain. And like children we danced and we laughed, and we played. Without a care in the world, without a flicker of despair. It was all about house music, it was that thing that we shared. A tribal feast of rhythm, a ceremony of sound in my mind. I must’ve went to house heaven, because nothing’s that divine.”
3. This art by Sthenjwa Luthuli (South African artist)
About the artist: “In his masterfully carved and painted wooden reliefs and woodcut prints, Sthenjwa Luthuli celebrates his Zulu heritage and spiritual self while referencing the ongoing struggles that face racialized groups in post-apartheid South Africa. His compositions feature figures contorted against brightly hued, patterned backgrounds that seem to shift and shimmer. These headless, apparently floating characters appear either unwillingly adrift—the victims of subpar social infrastructures—or else ascending to something greater. Luthuli has said his figures occupy “unknown space”—his term for an abstract territory between the spiritual and physical worlds that the artist accesses to connect with himself and his ancestors. Luthuli has exhibited in Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, Lagos, and beyond.”
Follow the artist on IG here!!! And if you have the funds, Join Alicia Keys and buy his art! HERE.
4. This question and the replies
Also, I love this creator so deeply, I soooo recommend following them on TikTok and Twitter! A gift to my fyp. Here is their CashApp and PayPal! Support Black Creators if you have the fundsssss <3
Lots of lovely Jazz recs for those with Spotify:
5. This interview
I’ve never watched Formula One but I really enjoyed Lewis Hamilton’s energy and vibe and values and the respect and admiration between him and Jay Shetty. Note: his childhood experience of anti-Black bullying from both classmates and teachers was heartbreaking and does not spark joy. But the conversation overall does. I’m trying to be more mindful of what slower content captures my attention and holds it in a way that feels natural, and not judge myself for it, and this conversation did that for me.
6. This video
7. This idea
Our culture is so obsessed with reading for quantity instead of quality of attention, focus, and care. I definitely fall prey to this mentality of reading a book so that I have read the book, which never lets you fully enjoy or sink into the book you’re reading. Also, I feel like rereading books is so underrated!
The video below deals with the same point: “The modern world fully equates the intelligent person with the well-read person… but what mattered in the past was to read a few books very well, not squander one’s attention promiscuously on a great number of volumes” Hahaha I died at the choice of words here lol. They said don’t be a book slut!!! But the deeper point is wisdom can be gained from deeply reflecting on what we read and letting it seep into us, which going fast precludes! Go slow…
6. This quote
7. This sound
About once a day I love listening to sound that slows me down and helps me connect to my breath. I use the Thich Nhat Hanh meditation: “Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in…. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out” and I love this because what else can I truly know?
8. This moment
A friend of mine recently matched with a guy she was excited about on Bumble. His name is whatever it is, but he’s a dom, so we nicknamed him The Dom. I hadn’t seen her in a while and caught up with her and asked how things went on their first date. She goes, “Oh, that didn’t work out. He was too into drugs, and I only get high on prayer”. I l cackled like a witch.
9. This tweet
10. Bonus: Happy Black History Month!
This 11 hour MasterClass series on Black History, Freedom, and Love from the minds of Black revolutionaries and luminaries like Angela Davis, Cornel West, and Kimberle Crenshaw is FREE this month on MasterClass, which is typically $15/month!
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I’m finally getting into slow reading! I used to tear through books as a kid, finishing several books a day. I remember hating the thought of wasting time rereading books when there were so many other books out there I wanted to read. Recently, I bought a book that I read in that stage of my life and reread it. It was one of those books I couldn’t ever completely forget as I did so many others. It was such a good read and made me remember the joy of reading fiction!
thank you so much for this newsletter! I wish you a wonderful week 💕