For my Comeback, I had Something Else in Mind
But this is what you get instead
life: examined is a compendium of ideas, thoughts, and questions about living a creative, intentional life—written to you from my perch in Portugal.
—> life: examined is reader-supported through buy me a coffee <—
Hello & happy solstice to longtime subscribers and new friends!
ICYMI —> This is life: examined, a little ol' Substack newsletter NOT written by Elizabeth Gilbert, Robert Reich, Anne Helen Petersen, or other notable person who's found a home on Substack. Also, life: examined is not written using AI and never will be. All typos, syntactical errors, and overuse of commas are all mine.
As I sit here click-click-clickity-clacking on the keyboard, I feel overwhelmed.
It's a pit-of-the-stomach flip-flopping that happens when I pick up the phone to call a far away and long-ago friend, someone I think of often but who I've lost touch with.
You see, I'm a bit nervous about reaching out after a long hiatus. Will you still want my words and thoughts, or have you rented my room to someone else?
Yet here I am, mustering up courage to step back into the world of Substack. And wow, Substack sure has changed since I've been away (more on that in another issue).
Sharing today's long overdue letter is my open-hearted attempt to reconnect with my readers (you!) who make up this life: examined community.
This brief missive won't be a literary masterpiece; it's more like a bunch of figurative ink flung at the electronic page. So, whether you’re a longtime reader or a recent subscriber, I hope you'll stick around and be a bit patient as I re-sharpen my chops and get back into the groove of writing and sharing with you.
Where in the heck?
Let’s see…where have I been since I last wrote in…April? Was it really April?
Mostly, I've been in Setúbal or wandering around the Iberian peninsula with C. We've traveled to Madrid several times, both as a destination and hub to places like Valencia, Oviedo, and to Córdoba for my birthday in February.
We also went to the U.S. for a visit and for a surprise I’ll share in a future letter.
In Portugal, we visited Coimbra, Tomar, and Porto on separate trips, and soon, we're on our way to the Braga region for a few days. That adventure will close out 2023's slow travel program for us.
Still car-free—five years & counting
C and I remain dedicated to a car-free life, which can make travel, especially longer distances, challenging. The train network in Spain is far superior to that in Portugal, so we spend our time visiting our neighbor to the east to take advantage of the convenient access. Getting to Spain, though, without a car is a pain in the butt.
In 2024, we plan to travel more with our dog, Milo. He loves train travel, so we want him to be able to join us as much as possible while he's still healthy and young-acting/feeling (he's nearly 13 years old!).
Short & sweet for now
I'll stop here as you must be inundated with holiday sales emails and whatever else fills your inbox this time of year, but I will be back in January with more to share because we need to talk about 2023—what a year it has been!
A few good links:
—> How Big Beef muzzled methane research
A new Guardian investigation reveals the U.N.'s farming wing downplayed livestock emissions after pressure from the meat, feed and dairy industries. From Emily Atkin & team at Heated
—> Would you Plog? Paul does.
—> The BIG JOY Project via Mission: Joy | Finding Happiness in Troubled Times. Find out which “micro acts of joy” work for you (from the folks at Greater Good in Action | Science-Based Practices for a Meaningful Life at UC Berkeley)
Thank you to Chr, Vicki, Pamela, Stori, Brian, Susan, Sally, and anonymous friends for supporting life: examined through Buy Me a Coffee.
Whether you buy me a coffee, leave a comment, or share my essays—I’m grateful to have you along for the ride.
Until next time —> take care and be kind to one another—and thank you for being a part of the life: examined community.
I am certainly looking forward to this!
Hi Shanna! Great to hear from you again! Looks like you've had lots going on and visited many places! How are you? I hope you're well and C. too! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas & New Year, I don't know whether you'll remember but my family and I nearly lost mom in February? Well, she's still with us, in a care home anyway. She is being well looked after, she loves it there! She will never come back home but she has accepted the fact and hopefully she will celebrate her 92nd birthday in March! It's a little bit sad today though, December 22nd is the anniversary of when my sister Janet died many years ago aged 3 so mom has never really enjoyed Christmas much! Her brother also died on December 23rd a few years ago. Still, she is still with us which is really good news and she doesn't have dementia either so we can all talk to her without fear of her wondering who the hell we are or why she's where she is! That's a blessing anyway! I look forward to your writing again, I have been looking every month to see if you came back, well you have now! Have a peaceful, prosperous Christmas and New Year. What's merry Christmas in Portuguese? I know it's Feliz Navidad in Spain! Take care till next time xxx