Great and Full

I was all set to write an essay this week, but then I didn’t.

In my defense, this week was (in order of importance): Thanksgiving with sixteen family members filling my brother’s house, the Wicked movie release, and also my birthday.

I had parts of an essay for you, but nothing coherent; there were the multiple car crashes I witnessed on the way to the airport to pick up our family, my weepy revelations watching Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande explore new depths of characters I’ve known for twenty years, and everyone’s general confusion about what is and is not vegan food at each and every meal.

But instead of trying to stitch them together for you, I chose to spend more time with my family, mostly talking about how good the Wicked movie was and explaining that yes, I can eat bread.

I hope you had an equally relaxing holiday with moments that reminded you of who you are and why you’re here. I’m incredibly grateful this many of you have joined this list over the years, and I hope you know how thankful I am to have this space to send out little pieces of myself and hear back from you when they resonate.

I’ll be back next week with a longer entry, but in the meantime, here’s a look at some of my favorite essays from the archive (which I opened up this weekend - if you want to upgrade your subscription to read more, click on the shiny button below):

Where Are We Going? - I wrote this the week I left Buenos Aires, when I very much did not want to leave Buenos Aires. (Spoiler alert for anyone new; I got back to the States and turned almost right back around, spending another three months down there.)

Dancing On My Own - I went on a lot of dates this year, most of which I’m using as fodder for a pilot I’m working on (which is called Travisty in case you were wondering how they turned out). I wrote this after going on multiple dates in multiple countries but still feeling very much alone.

Weathering the Storm - This is about the last time I’ll go camping, even though it was one of the best weekends of the year.

On Tattoos and Chairs - I realize sifting through the archives that most of my work is about me struggling with the permanence of things, because most of my life is spent doing just that. This is one of my favorites though, and not just because I remember how good that meal was.