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Hello friends,

I spotted some foxglove on a walk yesterday. It was a funny spot to find it, too, on a sidewalk just off a very busy street in a semi-industrial area of the city.

The pink, spotted bells called me to come closer, to listen to their whispers as traffic rolled by.

As a sometimes-writes-cozy-mysteries author, I know that foxglove can kill. But historically, it has been used to heal. It still is. Digitalis—foxglove—is used to treat many heart illnesses.

This made me want to ask: how is your heart? Your emotional heart. The organ itself is so central to our physical well being, that Ancient Egyptians and later, Greeks, decided it was the seat of our passions and emotions. For the Ancient Egyptians, it was also the seat of reason. It was the Greeks that moved that function to our brains.

But truly, thought and emotion are driven by every part of our body, aren’t they? If I eat something my body doesn’t respond well to I quickly experience shifts in emotion and the slowing of my cognitive functions.

So, in these times when many of us are under a lot of extra stress and strain, I ask you: how is your heart?

How are your emotions coping with climate crisis, economic free fall, war, genocide, and increased oppression and terror? And how is this affecting your thinking and day to day life?

I’m noticing more days when I feel slightly depressed, making it harder to work. My spiritual practices, daily walks, and commitment to my writing helps me shift into more balanced states, but the sense of being off kilter returns.

So, I’m accepting that right now. In these times, it is right to not feel okay. If we were well-adjusted to these current conditions, I’d actually feel worried. We need moments of rest and retreat right now.

But we can’t feel overwhelmed or shut down, day in and day out. We need to find things to ease our hearts, focus our minds, and keep us going. I know what those things are for me.

What helps you? What is helping your heart this week? How are you getting through, and helping others, too?

Best wishes — Thorn

ps: I’ve heard from some of you that you aren’t seeing the photos that are central to these newsletters. Turns out I can't fix that on my end. You have to give permission via your email server or your web browser. On email, there’s a little note at the top of the newsletter that addresses just that.