Maya Rushing Walker's Blog, page 3

Joy for the Week Ahead 13 April 2020

I hope you are doing well! I am particularly concerned about those of you who are living in the parts of the United States affected by severe weather over the weekend. My thoughts and prayers are with you. It seems that nature is intent on reminding us that we are but a small part of the picture. Accepting this fact with humility and grace seems to be the only way to move forward at the moment.

Here's my list of joy for this week:

Advice to address stress and strain on your body. These videos are from Bob & Brad, physical therapists with a popular YouTube channel. Bob and Brad are funny and have great chemistry, and offer techniques to get rid of headaches, sciatica, shoulder pain, and even plantar fasciitis and back spasms. They're pretty technical, but they're short, about 10-12 minutes. They recommend stretches and exercises that can be done in all kinds of circumstances, even in bed, as well as workouts for specific needs. Here's one for headaches behind the skull and eyes, and here's a beginner, at-home, 10-minute workout.
Hand massage tutorial. This is specifically for those of you who are on the computer a lot, or perhaps have arthritis or feel your stress in your hands, the way I do. Homespa Beauty has a number of wonderful tutorials but I love this one for hands. I also love this self-massage for sore feet!
How to grocery shop safely. How are you all doing with grocery shopping? We've got a designated person in our household who does all the outside activities (groceries, drugstore visits, etc.). Recently, we've been wondering if we should be concerned about all the hands our groceries pass through before we get them, and we've started unpacking things and leaving them outside for a bit before bringing them in, but this article addressees all of these questions and is very reassuring about what we can do to safely grocery shop.
Is restaurant food safe? I have been trying to think of all the ways in which I can support my local business community, and one way is by ordering from restaurants that have been able to transition to take-out food. This article explains that ordering take-out from restaurants is probably safe. As it turns out, there is quite a bit of research on transmission of coronaviruses through food handling, and there has never been any indication that they transmit via food. Hand-wash diligently and maybe skip the uncooked food options (like sandwiches), but otherwise, patronize establishments that have a good set-up so that you can minimize personal interaction. Don't forget, restaurants are all required to have staff trained in safe food handling practices. They already know about how to handle food safely.
Some Good News YouTube Show from Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. A show that promises only good news! The interaction between these husband-wife actors is wonderful, and you'll be left with only good feelings. Check out this episode where they bring joy to a young Hamilton fan whose trip to New York to see her favorite musical was canceled by the pandemic. Nice to have friends in high places, and even better to share this joy with the world!
Tiny Desk Concerts Go Home. You may be familiar with National Public Radio's Tiny Desk Concerts series, where artists in a variety of genres are invited into a small office at their studios to perform. Well, they've had to put those concerts on hold during the current emergency, but fortunately, a number of artists have been able to record mini-concerts from home. Here's a fabulous concert from five-time Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald.
Bonus: for some of us it was the biggest holiday of the religious year yesterday, and yet we weren't able to get to church or have celebrations with family and friends. If you are okay with watching a Christian sermon, this one from Episcopal Presiding Bishop The Most Reverence Michael Bruce Curry (the same priest who did the sermon for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) is beautiful. My favorite quote:

Easter had happened. Mary didn’t know it, but she did what love does anyway.

We don't know what's going on, but neither did anyone else that terrible weekend in Jerusalem. Easter was happening but no one knew it. My goal right now is to “do what love does anyway.” What can I do? I can write and reach out to people. I can take care of family. I can decline to spread this virus. All we have to do is “do what love does anyway.”

Have a good, safe, healthy week. I will “see” everyone again on Friday. Please write if you need to reach out to someone right now!

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Joy for the Week Ahead 6 April 2020

I've been feeling mildly annoyed that I'm receiving so many emails trying to sell me things. Is anyone else experiencing this? I feel as if I'm under assault from online course providers, marketing coaches, and various online sellers who seem to assume that everyone out there is stuck at home with a healthy income and nothing to do. Please rest assured that:

I'm not trying to sell you anything, and
I do not assume that you are sitting comfortably at home, collecting a salary and waiting for things to get back to normal.

We're all experiencing the current crisis in our own unique ways. Please know that wherever you are, and in whatever situation you may be in, I am directing thoughts of loving-kindness your way.

Here's my list of joy for this week:

Self-massage to address stress and anxiety. Rachel Richards has a great YouTube channel with self-massage techniques to combat stress and anxiety. Here are two that you can try: Self Massage and Meditation for Anxiety and Stress, and Face Massage for Headaches, Jaw Tension, and General Anxiety.
Isle of Calm Spotify Playlist. Created by the music people at National Public Radio, this is six straight hours of calm music. No money needed, just a free Spotify account.
The Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera of New York has cancelled the rest of its season, of course. The COVID19 pandemic has been a disaster in so many ways, including for people who make their living in the performing arts. But for those of us who aren't able to regularly get to New York City or who can't afford tickets to the opera, the Metropolitan Opera is broadcasting performances from their archive on their website. I watched Macbeth today, and then I tried one of the links to a previous broadcast (Barber of Seville) and what do you know, it was still functional. So if you don't like the looks of tonight's broadcast, try one of the others, it might still be available.
Support your local art house cinema. If you have a local independent theater, please check to see if they are linked to the Kino Marquee initiative, which is offering online screenings of indie films that you would otherwise be able to see at your local theater. It costs $12 to rent a movie, and you have five days of access. The profits are split between Kino and the local theater. I want to encourage you to support your nearest theater because that's the point, but if you don't have an independent theater or can't figure out if they've managed to sign on with Kino Marquee (I'm not finding a lot of information on which theaters are participating), my local theater, Red River Theatres, is participating in a virtual screening of Extraordinary, an Irish film that has garnered some great reviews. It's a comedy, which is a huge plus right now! Here's the summary. Extra Ordinary (R/2020/94 min.): In rural Ireland, a driving instructor named Rose (Maeve Higgins), cautiously applying her considerable supernatural talents (a love/hate relationship), agrees to assist Martin (Barry Ward) with poltergeist and possession problems. A washed-up rock star (Will Forte), in cahoots with the devil, has sinister plans for Martin's daughter (Emma Coleman) in an attempt to regain stardom. A very funny ghost story which has more on its mind than you might expect — successfully mixing audacious humor and horror elements.
Free art books. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is closed, but is offering lots of online art for you to browse through, as well as educational resources for both kids and adults, and even an online 360-degree virtual look at some of the Met's most famous displays. They are also offering hundreds of free art books for you to download and examine in PDF form.
Cheatsheets for cooking. Last but not least, possibly my favorite handy tool for the week! Buzzfeed has compiled a collection of cooking hacks from all over the web, ranging from “A Guide for Cooking and Baking Substitutions” to “Optimal Food Storage” to “When You're Out of Eggs.” There are some easy spice mixes and even a plan for leftover vegetables! Even though I'm trying to patronize local restaurants who offer curbside takeout, I suspect most of us are cooking more than we ever did before. If you're trying to cut back on the number of grocery store visits, you may be ending up with lots of groceries that need some innovative techniques in order for you to enjoy them!

I hope these will help you to face the week ahead with some joy! I will be back on Friday with my usual newsletter. If you have suggestions, tips, or questions, please do write. I've been trying to get back to everyone as quickly as I can!

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Joy for the Week Ahead 30 March 2020

This new weekly “Joy for the Week Ahead” newsletter presents me with a challenge…how to keep it short and sweet so that I can make sure I get it out to you each week during this time of world crisis. Thank you for your kind emails of support. I feel you are all cheering me on so that I can do this one small thing! May it make a difference for someone, anyone, even a single person out there.

Here's my list for this week:

Free mental health support: stress, anxiety, depression. Sanvello is an app for your phone that uses proven techniques (such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation) to help walk people through difficult times. There are mood trackers, tools to develop skills for coping, various types of assessments, etc. Sanvello is actually covered by a lot of health plans, which is terrific! But right now during the pandemic, Sanvello's premium access is free. From their website: “The COVID-19 pandemic has us all grappling with how to navigate this difficult time and manage our mental health. There is much beyond our control, but there is one thing we can do at Sanvello—and that’s provide on-demand help with reducing stress and anxiety. To that end, premium access to Sanvello—all content, coping tools, and peer support—is completely free during the COVID-19 crisis. It’s effective immediately (no action required).”
Free yoga and workout apps. My yoga app of choice is Down Dog. It's customizable (I almost said flexible!) and works for those of us who aren't trying to win the world competitive yoga championship (I'm sure that's a thing, but NOT my thing!), but just want a kind, gentle stretch that pinpoints problem areas. Down Dog also has a few other apps that are more exercise-oriented. Right now they are all free.
The Austin 100. I feel terrible for all the musicians out there who have had to cancel and postpone shows due to the current situation. South by Southwest (SXSW), a huge festival that takes place in Austin, Texas every year, is a hugely influential global celebration of up-and-coming musicians. Pop Culture Happy Hour releases a 6-hour-long playlist every year of songs they feel represent the best of the best of SXSW. Even though SXSW '20 was cancelled, the playlist is here! Give it a listen and feel proud of how hip you are! You can find the playlist on both Spotify and Apple Music.
Live shows online. National Public Radio constantly updates a list of live musical performances online. With all the concerts being cancelled, this is our only way to watch live music right now.
A ridiculous selection of books for borrowing. This gem is courtesy of the English teacher who has taught all four of my kids and represents the very finest example of the teaching profession. Please check out the National Emergency Library. It was started by the Internet Archive, a vast database of books available for borrowing by anyone in the world. Just sign up for an account here. You can check out up to ten books at a time. The lending period is two weeks, but they've suspended the wait lists, so if you aren't finished with your book, just check it out again. I can't emphasize enough what a big deal this is. Students don't have to suffer. Teachers don't have to panic. And all of you wonderful people on my list can find something to read for free.
Regular dance parties on Instagram. Read here for a great article on DJ D-Nice's Instagram “Club Quarantine” dance parties. They're still going on, but you have to catch him live! You might end up joining Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah…they've all stopped by to try to dance away the stress! His playlist is also available on Spotify, a feel-good blend of dance, soul, and R&B. I've got it on right now, and it's great to have a playlist that's specifically curated for joy.

That is all for now! I have so many more things I can send out, but at this time of international panic, I want to give you a tightly curated list so that I don't just add random things to all the stuff you are getting in your inbox. Please have a safe, healthy week, and feel free to reach out any time. I'll talk to you again on Friday!

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Joy for the Week Ahead 23 March 2020

I have a tendency to write long and this means any writing project (even an email reply or a blog post) takes a lot of time, thought, and effort.

This week I'm starting a new project, one that will be short in the moment but that I hope will be long in effect.

I'm calling it “Joy for the Week Ahead.” I'll send it out on Monday or Tuesday, a short list of things that you can reach for at the start of a week of the unknown.

I'll still be sending out regular Friday newsletters about books, reading, and writing, but my “Joy” email will include a short list of things that I've found that bring me joy and help me get started with the work I have to do this week.

Here's my list for this week:

Miss Fisher is on Acorn TV! You may know Miss Fisher's cozy series, first broadcast in Australia in 2011, but there is a feature film release that I've been cross about because it isn't being shown in the U.S. When I mentioned this on Instagram, however, someone reached out to tell me that it is available on Acorn TV starting TODAY! If you haven't seen any of the Miss Fisher television episodes, please take a look! (I'm referring to the original series, not “Modern Miss Fisher,” which I haven't tried yet.) Season one is available on Prime, but the subsequent seasons require an Acorn subscription. You can get a trial subscription for free if you want to test it out, however. If you love British-style television, it may be well worth your while right now.
Choir!Choir!Choir!. This is a wonderful duo who lead singalongs in their native Toronto (who doesn't love Canadians???) and also do tours. Their Youtube channel is so inspiring and uplifting! On Saturday 21 March they led an “epic love song social distance sing-along” via Facebook Live and Youtube. I'm sorry I missed it, but the video is so sweet, and why should we not sing just because we missed the live, right? Singing makes everyone feel better!
Yoga while sitting at the computer. This makes a difference. Please take care of your neck and head. I love Adrienne's yoga channel on YouTube, but I love this specific workout the most. Anyone can do this, any age or level of mobility.
Brene Brown podcast. This is new! It's called “Unlocking Us.” Caution, it's likely to include swearing, because Dr. Brown is so real, she often can't help herself and talks to us as if we were in her living room. I'm so looking forward to her good sense and research-based advice.
My local indie bookstore is doing 99-cent shipping. Do you have an independent bookstore in your area? If so, check to see if they are shipping books. My local bookstore is charging only 99 cents for shipment of orders over $10. I'll include the link if you are anywhere in their shipping area (probably the entire United States). But with libraries closed, if you need a special order or you can't stand the thought of staring at a screen for hours on end, this may be the answer. With our bookstore, you can call or email and discuss book choices and get recommendations, too. Please do support your local small businesses as much as you are able. The very character of our communities will change if the businesses that we patronize disappear.

That's it for this round! I could have kept going, actually, but at this rate it's going to be one of those long ones, and then it'll end up as procrastination from the other things I have to do today. Please stay safe, stay healthy, and reach out anytime if you are bored, stir-crazy, scared, or just plain frustrated!

THE CREATIVE HABIT

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know what I expected from this book; I read it because a mentor and teacher of mine wrote an article where she urged all writers to read it. It was one of her favorite books on creativity, so I went ahead and got the ebook. Now I think I’m going to buy a print copy and fill it with post-it notes. It said so many things that resonated with me, I kept going back to re-read parts. There are exercises in the book–it really felt like a dance class! first she explains the theory, then she makes you practice–and while I thought I had read every book on creativity and done all the exercises out there, I certainly haven’t done the ones in this book. After I finished the book, I went onto Youtube in order to find videos of her dances and interviews about her projects. I was especially fascinated by her description of her Tony-award-winning production, MOVIN’ OUT, done to Billy Joel’s music. Basically, she was explaining how it was a big mess when it previewed in Chicago, and she had to turn it around in a couple of weeks before it hit Broadway. Her honesty really struck me–that’s how creative people have to be, really honest but also really confident. You have to be brave and put your work out there, but when it doesn’t work, you have to recognize it and do something about it.

This is a great book, for creatives in all the different fields, and also for fans of modern dance. Twyla Tharp is a legend, and in this book you can see why.

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ACT LIKE IT

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because it was recommended by one of my favorite podcasts, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. I had just read a book I was disappointed in, recommended by a different podcast, so I was cranky and inclined to be critical. What a great surprise! It was such a fun read, and so unexpected! Lucy Parker is a New Zealand author, and Act Like It is the first in a series of slow-burn romances that take place in the theater and entertainment world. I loved her grumpy but gorgeous hero and her good-hearted heroine who’s just coming out of a bad workplace relationship. What is best about this book is the author’s lighthearted prose and funny commentary. I kept laughing out loud! I loved the British-isms and funny turns of phrase, as well as the frank sexiness of her characters. Heat level was perfect for me; there were a couple of really sweet love scenes but they cut to the flowers at just the right moment. And frankly, when you read a book like this with gorgeous people in an intriguing environment, you really do want to see them get together…you just don’t need them to share every single detail, right? Lucy Parker did just enough, in my opinion. And slow-burn! I love slow-burn! I’ll be buying book 2 next, stay tuned!

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STRIKE

Strike by D.J. MacHale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Unbelievable! Unfortunately, I can’t really say anything…because…spoilers…really, really big spoilers! So frustrating! I don’t dare say a word about the plot. Please start with book one, and please keep going through ALL of book three. D.J. MacHale is a fabulous storyteller. I wasn’t really wowed by the writing itself, but this was not meant to be beautiful prose, it was meant to be crisp, effective storytelling, which it was, 100% of the time. I’m not surprised that MacHale is a TV/movie producer. Every time I thought the story was going to go one way, he flipped it and it went in another direction. It was actually convincing, too. No crazy situations where the characters suddenly do things that don’t make sense. Each and every move was something you could buy into. Start with SYLO, book 1. Do it!

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THE NIGHT MANAGER, by John le Carré

The Night Manager by John le Carré

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I broke my own rule and saw the Amazon Prime mini-series (with Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie) before I read the book. Normally I don’t ever do that! But I’m a John le Carre neophyte, so the mini-series is what hooked me and then I decided I simply had to read the book to see the nuts and bolts of how such a fabulous storyteller actually engineered this tale. A little bit like buying a Ferrari and then deciding to get under the hood to try to understand how the creators made such an amazing thing.

I had some unexpected results! First of all, this book was written years ago, so the setting is a bit dated. That didn’t bother me, as I like reading and writing historicals. But the mini-series moved both the time period and the location of the story, so that threw me. I’m trying not to spoil the novel for people who haven’t seen the show, but the setting of the book is practically a character in the story, whereas it has been removed entirely from the show.

Second, the ending is completely different! Again, I won’t spoil it, but it’s absolutely, 100% a completely different ending, not only in fact but in sentiment, if that makes sense. The emotional journey is completely different.

Third, the two love stories play a radically different role in the novel. They are bigger, more important, but also a little bit less believable. The main character is hugely impacted by these relationships–they almost become a voice in his head–whereas in the mini-series, there is much less influence on the decisions he makes. And the female characters are completely different.

I found a lot of the book difficult to follow, and I think it may have been because I don’t normally read spy thrillers. I don’t mean that it was poorly written–yikes. It was BEAUTIFULLY written. But it is not a light read, and even some of the Britishisms were hard for me to follow.

Do I recommend this book? Absolutely, but the above is a fair warning–this is not a pot-boiler of a suspense novel. It’s long, dense, and it’s not the series. I enjoyed both, and I’ve bought two more le Carre novels that I can’t wait to get into!

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JANE AUSTEN, THE SECRET RADICAL, by Helena Kelly

Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Helena Kelly’s fascinating analysis of Jane Austen’s books ranks up there as one of my favorite reads of 2019. So much else about Austen, her world, and her choice of writing projects, makes sense now that I’ve had a deep dive into the social history and politics of the period. I will admit that some of her conclusions were a bit hard for me to swallow, so you will have to make your own decisions about what she thinks about certain motifs Austen’s novels, but it would have been a very boring book if I had agreed absolutely with everything in it. If you are a Jane Austen devotee, please pick up this book and sit with it…pick up a print copy, in fact…and get your head into this space. It will make the novels come to life in a completely different way.

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HER ROYAL SPYNESS, by Rhys Bowen

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this! Everyone, if you are an audiobook person, the audiobook is priceless. The narrator is the fabulous late Katherine Kellgren, who is American but does every single accent PERFECTLY, right down to Mr. fabulous Irish peer, Darcy! So sexy, so funny! But I’ve just started book 2 and will be reading through this series!

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