I love newspapers, especially the physical ones – I get excited each time a new edition arrives on my driveway or in my mail box.
I get busy reading it. First, I peruse the paper highlighting what’s relevant to ME and then I proceed to enthusiastically rip out article after article I deem enlightening, informative or downright entertaining. Worth saving. And then, without fail, I dump the pile into my newspaper cache – a deep drawer in my antique mahogany breakfront in my very formal dining room.
The rest of the paper? I either plop in the recycle bin, use to wrap gifts or haul to my favorite thrift store where they use discarded newspaper for wrapping breakable items.
I think of my every-growing pile of articles that I save as “readable heirlooms.” I pull them out in moments of clarity, where I actually experience the possibility for realistic rejuvenation.
My latest find is a huge four page spread garnered from the Wall Street Journal. Title: Supergoop!
Supergoop! is not related to Gynweth Paltrow’s brand Goop. Supergoop!, a broad-spectrum, SPF-50, is an environmentally friendly sunscreen that goes on easily, doesn’t leave a white residue, has a pleasant scent and is available in four sizes, including an 18 ounce jug.
Weeks ago, I read an article pointing out that people should approach their social activities encounters in the same way they approach their business obligations: with attention and care. It all seemed so exhausting – another thing to mindfully add to my ever-burgeoning To-Do list.
The spread on Supergoop! seamlessly raised my awareness of just how easy this intention could be carried out in real time. Supergoop!’s humongous ad spread listed 365 ways to embrace your power – your solar powered freedom – in easy to execute and simple to do ways.
Here’s the suggestions that jumped out to me:
Read this newspaper outside
Stop for a coffee
Sit down in the sunshine with your coffee
Drive around with the windows open
Happy hour with friends at a sidewalk cafe or rooftop
Chill by yourself
Watch the sunset
Watch the sunrise
Start a collection
Stretch
Make a PB&J
Learn a new recipe
Call an old friend
Play Wordle in the park
Practice random acts of kindness
Put your phone away and enjoy the park
Play hopscotch
Bake a pie and share with a neighbor
Scatter wild flower seeds in your back yard
Smile at someone
Hug yourself
Dance like no one is watching
Wash your car
Shop the farmers market
Buy yourself flowers
Sing out loud at the top of your lungs
Host a barbecue
Play wiffle ball
Build it
Listen to your favorite album from when you were 13
Have breakfast for dinner
Have dessert for breakfast
Go to a state you’ve never been to
Wear sunscreen
And, of course,
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
Iris Ruth Pastor