Dear President Trump,

Maybe it’s this darn lingering cold or maybe it’s that so many people are feeling anxious about whether we can ever recover from your presidency or maybe it’s not having slept well, again. Maybe it’s all of the above and more, but whatever is going on with me this morning, I couldn’t bring myself to read the news, news. I combed through the WP until I found some fluff I could stand to read.

The first piece was by a young woman, Sumaiya Ahmed, who described how her rather obsessive sewing habit helped her battle depression and restore her self-confidence. She talked about having dragged her feet studying for the bar exam several years ago and how instead she focused on sewing ever more challenging garments. She did pass the bar and after some trial and error, found a position that suits her. And she’s still sewing. A lot. It was wonderful how she described the boost she gets when she’s feeling unsure at work and she looks down and is able to see the neatly pressed seam in a dress she made or the nicely turned hem of a skirt she knows was done just right. Being a knitter, I understand how this works. I often wear things I’ve made when I know it’s going to be a hard day. There really is something to being able to reference a tangible bit of evidence that I’m competent at something practical.

The second piece was actually front and center, as if the WP folks sensed their readers needed something to take their minds off all the horrible stuff in the news for a few minutes. Anyway, it was about the “Wizdom” dance troupe attached to the DC Wizards basketball team. The “Wizdom” members are 50 to 76 and they will perform at seven home games. The article said several other NBA teams have 50+ dance troupes and that they are big hits with the crowds. This isn’t one of those things I’d ever aspire to join – definitely not my thing – but it’s super cool they exist and that people who do enjoy this sort of thing can do it.

I bet the Wizdom dancers get boosts throughout their weeks when they are reminded they are doing this cool thing every weekend that brings them joy much like Ahmed does from her sewing and I do from my knitting. Working hard at something that you don’t have to do to survive can be a quality of life saver and I’m grateful the WP brought two such nice examples of this forward today when I really needed them.

May we all have enough safety that we can do things that bring us joy.
May we know it’s ok to pursue things that make us happy.
May we take care of our health in holistic ways.
May we all have peaceful circumstances that support growth.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson