Good morning,
What’s Helping Today: This summer I’ve spent a lot of time by streams and rivers — meditating, reading, hanging out. A friend’s gotten real into fly-fishing and I go along.
Turns out such waterways have been all around me the seven years I’ve lived here in the Catskills but I’ve seldom paid them much mind. Now I see them everywhere, for all their beauty and variety.
I find myself a good bank to sit upon, or a sufficiently flat and dry rock. Streams are fully magical places, good for contemplation, good for zoning out.
Also helping today: Lucy Sante’s new memoir I Heard Her Call My Name, which I finished this weekend by some water.
It’s a quick read and I’d recommend it to all people — both those who will resonate with her portrait of gender dysphoria and the glory of finally seeking relief from it, as well as those who will find such topics less familiar.
Thank you to everybody who has read my new essay on Camp Lost Boys for Esquire. I feel especially grateful to those who’ve taken the time to share the piece or to reach out to me. It means so much.
I admit I’m pretty overwhelmed, as can happen during such moments. I try to become even more thoughtful about where I put my energy, and I try to remain devoted to my daily stress-reduction routines. Speaking of, gonna go do some yoga.
Sending you love and thanks.
p.s. Reminder that if you want to hear me read the piece, you can do so on the Apple News app (one can free trial the subscribers-only audio offerings for a month).
p.p.s. As ever, to send in a question for my advice-ish column, write whatshelpingtoday@gmail.com.
p.p.p.s. Here is a playlist.