June Life
A Body Misbehaving, Websites That Look The Same, Berenstain vs. Berenstein, and More!
This week’s newsletter is a super-sized Freak My Week that includes a body misbehaving, a Berenstain vs. Berenstein wormhole, a bunch of websites looking the same, new pantry favorites, and fake building videos (I love them anyway).
If you’re a freebie subscriber, I’ve got a new cookbook recipe headed your way next month.
Hello!
I had so much fun putting together this month’s roundup. I kept thinking I should hold stuff back and save it for July…but just kept adding to it anyway. Hope you’re enjoying these super-sized Freak My Weeks, because I’m really enjoying making them.
June has been cool - and also, weird. I have something going on with my body again and, in the last few weeks, I’ve had an ultra sound, CT scan, and a colonoscopy. And have another test next week. It feels like a return to a routine that I thought was in the past.
While I don’t have answers yet, my gut is telling me it’s the residual impact of having such invasive endo and adeno for so long that it’s messed with how my organs are functioning. While my uterus and ovaries are no longer here, it feels like they’re checking in like some sort of poltergeist, making their presence known again.
It’s been a bummer to return to non-stop medical things. And more of a bummer grappling with the fact that, even after removing all the dark parts from my body, the damage that was done might be something I’ll need to manage for a long time (or forever). Which feels pretty exhausting to think about.
Now the cool bit…
With all of this, it’s weirdly confirmed my pursuits in horticultural therapy. Learning about, growing, and tending to plants has been the thing that’s given me the spark to get up each morning and push through a whole gallon of colonoscopy prep (why have they not figured out how to make that taste good?!).
When I’m feeling the discomfort of my body or just can’t think about someone poking or prodding me again, I’ll head outside and weed, cut a bouquet for my neighbor, read up on a new technique I learned in school, or just head to my favorite nursery to wander. It’s a weird tethering back to myself. I begin to feel more hopeful and grateful for the parts of my body that are behaving.
D sent me this piece with some studies to back up the feelings I have.
I have a big final school project due at the end of the summer. It involves designing a therapeutic garden space and therapy program for a population of my choosing. It’s felt a little daunting to tackle it, but with everything going on, I feel more inspired now. The garden and plants have been saving me right now, and I can’t way to create a space to help others feel the same.
Talk to you next month!
Love,
Jessica
The Things That Freaked My Week
Some things I’m currently into…
The Mandela Effect Phenomenon Movie
As someone who is convinced that Berenstain Bears was absolutely spelled Berenstein Bears at some point, I’m really excited about this movie. Not sure about the wormhole / alternate universe theory…but I’m listening.
Botanica Pantry
One of my best bud’s restaurants recently expanded and rebranded their line of pantry goods. The typography is so good, and I’ll be ordering a little something sweet and savory from the line.
Trending: Websites That Look The Same
Lately it seems like almost every CPG brand’s website I discover has the same components – a scrolling ticker, big chunky type, big blocks of color, rounded images, and lots of hands. Some examples…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Inside + Outside with Jessica Murnane to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.