Hi Friends,
This week I drowned out the cafe’s playlist and my own mental soundtrack with Florence + The Machine’s song “Patricia.” It’s carrying me through the week with a transcendent perspective that was hard to find with the LA rain blocking the sun and regular walks with friends; with Noah not being in the living room squeaking his markers across the page; with the growing pile of unopened mail standing on its hind legs. And with the things too raw and tender to say. Maybe it will help you get there too…
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star
And I have to tell you something I'm still afraid of the dark
You take my hand in your hand from you flowers grow
And you understand with every seed you sow you make this cold world beautiful
She told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
She told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
You're a real man, and you do what you can
You only take as much as you can grab with two hands
With your big heart, you praise God above
But how's it working out for you, honey?
Do you feel loved?
She told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
(Do you feel loved?) she told me all doors are open to the believer
I believe her, I believe her, I believe her
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
Oh Patricia, you've always been my North Star, oh
I drink too much coffee and I think of you often
In a city where reality has long been forgotten
Are you afraid? 'Cause I'm terrified
But you remind me that it's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing to love
It's such a wonderful thing
“What have you truly loved so far?” - Nietzsche
Our philosophizing firebrand posed this as a central question for the soul to consider as a mirror of who we really are. We become what/who we love. What we adore. What we delight in. What we give our own fingers and tears and coins to. It’s also the question that, if you’re trying to get to know someone, would be very helpful to ask.
When I was co-designing a student leadership workshop around purpose and belonging with Bucknell College last year, this is the lead question we baked into the first gathering. Its positivity disarmed the room and dropped students into a warm space. Its depth bypassed transactional, performative exchanges. Its personal and holistic approach provided a strong basis on which to relate to each other. One question. But how often do we ask it and wait to hear each other’s responses? This can also be helpful to wonder about towards people who irritate, offend or confuse us: “I wonder who they’ve truly loved…”
Here are a few of my own loved ones so far…
And you?
Sending existential orange juice and hook shots from the frontier,
Cat