August 20, 2026

i’m
always
overwhelmed

because i keep
breaking everything down
into smaller and smaller pieces

you’d think this would help

it hurts

because i keep all the pieces inside my perception
the whole and the parts
and the parts feel
so many…

for example:
i follow the backwards projection
of everything everything everything to try to
negate my own impact
on the world

i know fast fashion
is terrible for the environment
so i err towards slow fashion
i err towards second-hand
but both of these have impacts
money spent in the fashion industry
and the possibility that it won’t fit well
it will wear out
eventually
and i’ll have to make a decision
whether or not
to throw it
out

so i err towards making my own clothing
but there are still impacts:
fabric to buy
[if i know the person who makes my clothes
is working too hard
for too little pay — that still stays
when talking about who is making
the fabric when i make
my own clothing, correct?]
and all the notions
and thread
and little things
i’m still paying
into the economy — what if i want to be
completely self-sustaining?

so then we look at visible mending
the clothes i already have
with the supplies i already have
which is quite a bit
but i’m still forever getting little things:
sashiko patterns
and replacing certain embroidery thread
i know i’ll use
and darning tools
and i just want to
not
buy
anything
at
all

and on and on and on
and backwards and backwards and backwards
and when is something too warn out to wear
and how many rags can you really have
before it’s just an excuse to keep
tiny
tiny
tiny
things
everywhere everywhere everywhere around the house

i’m not explaining myself very well
but it is a thing i think about
every
single
day

August 19, 2026

a wave of a big sad
is threatening to crash down
upon me

and i’m just standing
here on the beach
waiting
waving back
not prepared
but still aware
it’ll hit
and then i may be
pulled
away
from the safety of the shore

[but i do love oceans
and maybe there’s something there
to explore?]

August 18, 2026

ok
ok
yesterday and last night
were rough
were
depression

but this morning doesn’t feel nearly as
helpless
lifeless
hopeless

i hope it’ll stay that way;
i feel on a razor’s edge
and either side of me is
despair

[but hey, i’ve been taking tightwire classes, so
i should be better both physically and metaphorically
at balancing

here]

August 17, 2026

hike the paths deep into the woods
[after you’ve exited deep out of the parking lot]
and come upon a little village
always here
but only open part-time
of historical and fantastical
and magical and mystical
and sometimes [often] a bit [a lot] silly

the New York Renaissance Faire

there are countless [though i’m sure they’ve all been counted]
shops
and eateries
and stages
and shows
all boasting this as their home
[even if it only lasts from mid-august to
the very tip of october]

a beautiful place
an overwhelming event
a wonderful community
and a time to be had

by all
who want it
by all
who need it
by all

August 16, 2026

sometimes moments from my teenage self come back
to haunt my waking world.
like there’s a baby hj floating around calling out
in forlorn echoes
‘remember when you did this thing?’
or
‘remember that time your friend said that?’
and half the time i don’t actually remember
i just take them at their word

they’re closer to all that happening, temporally/emotionally, after all

[i hope they’d never lie to me]

[i hope i’d never lie to me]

[damn, i know for a fact that i’ve lied to me in the past,
what makes me different now/then…?]

August 15, 2026

i want to sing
and create my own music
and learn to speak french
and act in everything
and read audiobooks
and write my own
and sew
and embroider
and create my own clothes
and have my own youtube series
and cosplay
and learn how to calm down my perfectionism
and perform on a broadway stage
and continue to circus like my life depends on it
and i feel like i have not enough time in one life to do it all
but i know other people who do
so maybe i can do
at least some things
if i start
and continue
and really really really try

August 14, 2026

perhaps
i’m not as dissociative as i have always/often concluded i am

perhaps
i’ve been in the moment this entire time

and it’s a coping mechanism
to convince myself
i’m not

like it’s a coping mechanism
to pretend you are over
love

when all we have is love

when all we are is love

August 13, 2026

ten years ago we had just gotten married
and had delayed our honeymoon to take
while i had the opportunity to perform
in the new york city international fringe festival
and so we were here
ten years ago
in a summer heat wave
staying in a fancy hotel
in times square
two introverts
constantly overwhelmed
and at the end of that trip
ten years ago
we both agreed
that we did not like nyc
and would never
ever
ever live here

jokes on us ten years ago
because, over the last six and three quarters years
i have learned what it is to love
a place

because new york and new yorkers
have taught me so many things
about living and diversity and togetherness and community
and perseverance
and humor
and art

i don’t know what my life would be like living any other place
but i’m damn glad kip found parts of this city away from tourism hell
and we found our little pocket of nature and quiet in the middle of
the city that never sleeps, and i still get so excited
to go downtown and i still get so excited
to come back home and i still can’t believe
we live in this magical, dirty, weird, unique, and wonderful place
that ten years ago i hated so hard

i love it here

August 12, 2026

i’m enjoying far more
mending and creating my clothing
than shopping and searching and trying on and purchasing

let’s hope that joy stays when i attempt
more complex items in the coming
months…

[and that i can create things
for kip that kip loves
as well]

August 11, 2026

if still alive
my mom would be celebrating
her 40-year wedding anniversary
with my dad today

i knew there was a reason
i was drawn to wearing her
bright sunflower clothes this morning