This is the Kos newsletter: warm email notes from your friend in Berkeley. Finding the simple joy in parenthood, bodies, spirituality, creativity, and beauty. Sound like your jam? Subscribe below for weekly notes.
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Hello, hello! It’s a beautiful grey fall day in Berkeley. I actually have a hard time with the occasional grey mornings and grey days. Like, Weather, just decide what you want to do and do it. Don’t leave us hanging!
It’s Saturday. My oldest invited a couple of friends from school over for the first time. We’re pumping the My Neighbor Totoro soundtrack through the house and the little brothers are flying high on the rush of company.
I woke up this morning determined to turn my weekend a different direction than it’s been going the last few weeks. That is, better. So I picked up the clothes on the floor of my bedroom closet, cleaned the bathroom toilet, and stepped into running shorts. After a shower that included shaving (oooh, fancy) I ventured to a favorite grocery store for spelt flour and kimchi. Once home, I baked 36 muffins, boiled corn on the cob, chopped fruit and veges, and cleaned out the fridge. All while listening to silly podcasts. This whole thing *waves hands around the kitchen* is my jam when my playlist is loaded, the fridge is stocked, and there is nary a child in sight. (They were biking at the local elementary school with my husband.)
It’s not a small thing to do the things I love to do. Cooking is a hobby—it’s also helpful to my family so maybe doesn’t it count…? But I feel like it does because I do love it. I’d do it even if it didn’t feed young tummies.
With so many changes lately, I’m feeling an urge for a new hobby. Something exciting but soothing. If I told you I was terrified of crafting, what would you say? What do we do at night after the kids are in bed but before we’re asleep that’s not reading, watching tv, or chilling with our partners? (Talk me out of mopping as a hobby. It’s sort of a new passion for me via cleaning TikTok.)
So what’s your ideal Saturday morning? What would it decidedly include, or not include?
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Have you considered sewing? I find it incredibly soothing, easy to pick up and put down as needed, and walking away with clothing I've made for myself or my kids is super satisfying. Once you get into it, you find you don't really need to be perfect on any part of it and it's easy to fix mistakes. Plus I feel fuzzy feelings of being connected in some way to generations of ancestors who came before me and made clothes for their families. Anyway, happy to chat more if you're interested -- it's my favorite chill hobby!