This week has given me reminders of impermanence, in ways big and small.

First, there’s the fact of it being September, a time of seasonal transition and letting go of summer.

There have also been some changes in my neighborhood, which is sort of crazy if you consider that I’ve lived here only two years.

My local neighborhood Italian restaurant, which opened right after I moved, has already closed. It’s been a big part of my life, and while I know that restaurants shutter all the time in this competitive city, this closing hits close to home.

A local sculpture garden, which is an oasis for me and many others, is set to be demolished. Part of the space will be used for affordable senior housing, which is crucial, but community organizers have identified other plots that could be used without razing one of the area’s few precious green spaces.

It looks as though the demolition will proceed, in spite of everything, so I’ve been spending time at the garden, making sure to walk past it once each day and thank it for being part of my life for a short while.

Those walks have actually reminded me of how important it is to thank people, places, and things for the role they played in our lives, regardless of whether that role was longstanding or short-lived.

When I moved out of my old apartment, for example, I took a quiet moment to say thank you. I was so unhappy living there by that point, but the space had sheltered me through Covid and given me so much safety and protection. It deserved my gratitude.

In the spring when I moved home from DC, I spent a lot of time revisiting the physical spaces that had made up the landscape of my post-bacc.

I said goodbye to every path I used to walk between the Georgetown campus and my old apartment, to the coffee shop where I used to cram for Orgo exams, to the yoga studio where I’d go to escape it all.

My memories were complicated, but I knew that one day I’d remember this time as being very formative, and now I do.

A few years ago, I realized that it was important for me to part ways with a figurine of Ganesha that I’d had in my apartment. It was an important moment, in its small way, symbolic of a larger willingness to let the past go.

It can be a lot easier to let places and objects go than people or relationships, but non-attachment is important even when it comes to human connection.

I think it’s our instinct to preserve interpersonal bonds however we can, for as long as we can. But there are times when a friendship or love connection has simply run its course.

My experience has been that it’s more painful to keep holding on than to give thanks for the love that was exchanged and then be willing to release it.

And, as I was reminded this morning when a friend told me about a loss in her family, non-attachment is sometimes forced on us. Loss is so painful, and sometimes so unfair. Even then, we have the capacity to grieve, to give thanks, and to let go.

Yesterday was muggy and hot and easily qualified as summer; today is brisk and chilly and definitely feels like fall.

None of it lasts forever, and something new is always coming.

Wishing you something new, and hopeful, in the week ahead, to help console you against whatever you’ve recently lost. Happy Sunday, friends. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

1. I’ll take two of these dirty chai maple iced lattes.

2. This lasagna soup will be on regular rotation through the fall.

3. The broccoli comfort food recipe of my dreams.

4. Silken tofu pasta sauce looks really versatile, creamy, and good.

5. These apple pie cookies are so adorable!

Reads

1. I like this nuanced look at the concept of mindfulness when it comes to food. I talk to my nutrition clients about mindful eating and believe in its basic principles.

However, working with a client population that’s prone to rigidity, I also see how “mindfulness” can become a gateway to all sorts of rules and orthodoxies. For example, it’s totally impractical to eat without distraction 100% of the time, and as a solo dweller I can also say that TV can be an important source of company at dinnertime. Mealtime distraction is actually constructive for certain types of neurodiversity.

Likewise, I’ve also observed how mindfulness can get co-opted by eating disorders. It’s great to learn how to eat in alignment with hunger cues, but hunger cues get taken offline with prolonged disordered eating. For many folks in recovery, it’s more helpful to follow a meal plan—one that’s adequate and constructed collaboratively with a dietitian—for a period of time.

The article notes all of these points and makes a few additional, compelling observations. It’s a worthwhile read.

2. Can AI make art? An interesting exploration of the question.

3.  I’ve always been told that you can’t catch up on sleep, and it’s nice to know that I may be able to, after all.

4. On a similar note, the very real health benefits of deep rest.

5. Nutella lovers, rejoice!

Happy rest of Sunday to you. My day will involve watching the US Open final with my mom, but some meal prep comes first.

I’ve got a white bean dip, the Moroccan-inspired stuffed sweet potatoes from Power Plates, overnight oats, and my quinoa beet bowls on the agenda.

Till soon,

xo