Curating Bloom means reading a lot of articles to find the right combination for each issue.
There's an excellent one slated for next week that includes a woman describing how her dad used to hug her, whole body, held on just long enough that you actually felt it. That line stuck with me long after I moved on to the next piece.
Yesterday I had tea with a friend. She's the kind of friend I want to be when I grow up: smart, funny, wiser than me about almost everything. I told her how the last few weeks had been going for me, and at some point she named exactly what I'd been feeling, before I found the words myself.
When it was time to go, she hugged me goodbye. A whole-body hug, held a beat past normal, like she was actually transferring her love to me. That's when the article came streaming back to me. I'm hugging my friends that way from now on.
And I get what that line meant.
TODAY’S PICKS
THE FEATURE
The Freedom of Being Yourself.
She spent her whole life feeling like the odd one out. Slowly, she stopped trying to sand down the parts that never fit.
THE REFLECTION
The Ambition of Enough.
She could afford the bigger house. She bought the smaller one anyway, and it turned out to be the more ambitious decision she's made in years.
I Finally Read It.
That book club drama piece from earlier this week.
The one about their email thread on Strangers? I read it. They weren't overreacting. It's good.
THE WILDCARD
Why Did People Start Shaking Hands.
People have clasped hands for three thousand years, but the everyday handshake as a greeting is surprisingly recent, and it keeps disappearing and coming back.
If you know someone who'd love this, send it to them.
That's the whole ask.
There's something in it for you too.
Details below.
My answer:
The friend group in high school that was never going to accept me. And skinny jeans.
