issue no. 781

WHILE MY DAD WAS DECLINING . . .

in his journey with Parkinson’s Disease, he used to come and stay with us periodically, for a week or so at a time. Each time he came, I noticed something different about him, some aspect of his self that seemed to be more absent. Each time, I felt a different set of pain signals spreading from my heart out to my fingertips and toes.

I noticed other things, too. In particular, the way that he would do all of the dishes in the sink, and when it was empty, he would then clean the sink itself, until the white ceramic was sparkling and there wasn’t so much as a crumb of discarded organic matter in the drain filter.

Almost every day, when I get all the dishes out of the sink and habit tells me to throw in the towel and walk away - I’m done - I remember this gift he gave me. I take a breath, and I sponge out the sink until it’s sparkling, and then I empty out the drain filter. I walk away tingling with his presence.

In a 2019 episode of The Emerald podcast , on Modern Disenchantment, Joshua Schrei talks about how the philosopher Max Weber named ‘disenchantment’ as “the distinctive injury of modernity.” Weber defined disenchantment as the belief that “there are no mysterious or incalculable forces that come into play, but rather that one can, in principle, master all things by calculation.”

What are some of the ways that we can re-enchant ourselves, affirm our relationship to forces beyond our understanding or control? Not the forces of cruelty and greed that we are so often confronted with these days, but of the regenerative power of the earth, the presence of unseen people, places, and things, and the unexpected moments of tenderness, joy, and beauty.

I have written here before a phrase that I, in turn, heard somewhere else: anything can be a spiritual act. Being present to any moment of any day can bring this spirituality into your actions or your thinking.

I’ve also written recently about the overwhelming imbalance between what we can offer the world and what the world can offer us. A simple way to prove that is to consider that it takes no effort from any human on earth to make the sun rise. What the creative energy of the world asks of us is that we show up with presence and with spirit.

Back when we were celebrating the Omen Days , I wrote tiny letters to myself to represent each month of the coming year, and I used adorable stickers (inherited from my teenager’s i’m-too-old-for-this pile) to affix them to the pages of my daily planner. April’s letter contained a message that keeps returning to me: pain can be transfigured into joy. To prove this one, I only have to remember one of myriad times when I was sobbing with despair and someone I love did something that made me laugh while the tears were still streaming down my face.

Another way to re-enchant our days, which may seem more practical, is to say out loud the things you want to do, and then find a way to do them. For example, do you want to have an online ice cream social with Taylor and I this Friday, to celebrate the joy of connection and the full moon?

Our ice cream social will be online at 8 PM EDT. To receive the details to join, you can RSVP by replying (if you’re reading on email), or sending a message with the button below (kindly include your email address) by Friday 5/1 at Noon EDT.

What other events would you like to do with us and/or the GFJ community - a podcast listening group? A regular tea-time check-in? Recorded conversations about specific topics? You can send us your ideas in the comments, or reply to us (if you are reading this in email newsletter form).

I’ll end with a statement of my own idea, a free-form wish that’s been soap-bubbling around on the air currents inside my head: Has anyone read Terry Tempest Williams’ latest book, The Glorians ? Its title comes from a dream Williams had, which is threaded through the essays in the book, and its introduction sparked a longing in me to have a ‘dream gathering’ - a scheduled time to sit down together with a small group of other dreamers, to talk about and discuss a recent dream that each of us had. (And yes, I mean an actual dream that came from the subconscious during sleeping hours.)

As quoted in another episode of The Emerald , Sthaneshwar Timalsina writes that, “The act of imagination is a creative act that assists in re-discovering reality.” If we can make of anything a spiritual act, if we can transfigure pain into joy, then we can re-discover reality through re-enchantment in our daily lives.

We can be re-enchanted,

Dor + Tay

tidbits...

resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we’re reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . .

Do One Small Thing . . . tell us in the comments: what do you dream about doing? What are your everyday wishes? What would you like to state an intention toward, so you can start moving closer to it?

Interested in starting a journaling club? Check out Suleika Jaouad’s free guide .

We’ve been anticipating the arrival of the Wisdom of Birth Tarot Deck ever since our friend Zivar started having us a pick a card on the regular last year when the prototype rolled in. They’ve launched their Kickstarter and you have the opportunity to snag your own . While it is the perfect gift for anyone expecting a baby, do not limit it to human form - this is a welcome resource for anyone crossing a threshold or in the process of creating (which is all of us, almost all the time).

“...I think it’s important to do more and more of what we want to do as we get older, rather than what we think we should do. Want and should must converge so we don’t constantly feel like our lives are culminating in failure.” - Swati Singh, Field & Story

The first ever Free School for Farmworkers IN-PERSON retreat is open for registration ! Limited to 50 participants, this gathering takes place Sunday, June 14, 2026 from 9am - 8pm, at Fox Haven Organic Farm and Learning Center in Jefferson, Maryland. A full day of celebration, community building, skill sharing, delicious food and nourishment, and so much more!

Becca Piastrelli , on the cusp of her recent birth, sharing ways we can be re-enchanted in this world to build the one we want to see.

Caitie Hilverman has similarly been processing and ritualizing a lot of the unnamed grief we feel in our personal and collective community circumstances, rooted in our local neighborhood of Hudson, NY. This is just one most recent piece that articulates these issues in a rooted and meaningful way.

For those who are not-too-far from Hudson NY, I’m hosting a Seedling Social at Suarez Family Brewery on Saturday May 9th from 12 - 2 PM. Those of us who grow seeds always plant extra, and this gathering is meant to encourage and inspire. You do not need to bring seedlings to be able to take some home. Giving and receiving is a gift.

A new issue of What the Wolf Wore , Dor’s newsletter on personal writing projects and the passion of spiritual creativity, is out now . You can sign up to receive monthly essays, plus news on her forthcoming book .

View and share this free guide to How to Write a More Equitable Job Post , and stay tuned for new resources to deepen this work.

" Plenty has been written about the economic impact of the pandemic on the food industry, but not enough about its lingering effects on the bodies of people whose mission is to nourish us. " Read the latest GFJ Story on the creator behind Anjali's Cup, with words by Nicole J. Caruth and photos by Christine Han.

got a tidbit? drop it here for us and we’ll share it in next week’s newsletter.