Nothing succeeds without taking stock — take inventory of your attention.
Below, a list of recent preoccupations (…with the intention of prompting your own specific rendition.)
Lukewarm pleasures
Recently I had dinner at a cryptically/gratuitously secretive tea house in Los Angeles. There, part of the experience included a thorough primer on Japanese tea etymology (of which I absorbed about 5%) but did leave with a renewed appreciation for kukicha — also known as bōcha, or twig tea, and made from the tea plant’s literal stems/shoots.
Traditionally, kukicha is brewed in a large pot, then left out to sip throughout the day like a pitcher of water. Nutty, earthy, and smooth, it really comes into its own while lukewarm. An underrated temp. This also suggests a 50/50 of kukicha cut with a bit of apple juice, which sounds good in an Arnold Palmer-y mindset (or I could be sold on this + a drizzle of honey.)
Re: kukicha, I like this one, or this one.
Acquiring the Void
“I’m often asked what I think about as I run,” Murakami writes. “Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I’m running?” Not a lot, he concludes. That’s kind of the point. “As I run, I don’t think much of anything worth mentioning. I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void.”
Metallic Saffron
A perfumer friend recently invited me over for breakfast, where she made yeasted waffles and then presented a tableau of single origin fragrances she’s been tinkering with. I left mesmerized with the idea of metallic saffron, a layered, Bergamot-y ingredient I can’t believe exists in the wild. The simple can be the most complex.
Brine Theory
Another beverage: a briny martini at my favorite bar in California felt meaningful. The pleasure of a hotel bar in a sleepy town is not to be overlooked.
Hierophany
A word that keeps coming up for me, as coined by philosopher Mircea Eliade to refer to “an awareness of the sacred” as it reveals itself in daily life. I’m on the lookout…
i LOVE your work & words xx thankyou for sharing
Such treasures in this one. ✨🙏