Unknown Ingredients
Hello again,
I stare into the box. A large bag of tiny loose greens labeled "ruby streaks". Three softball-esque objects I *think* are celery root. More brussels sprouts than I ever want to clean and trim. About 20 beets the size of my toes. Something else from the...green onion family?
This is a produce box I bought last weekend from a local restaurant, Cotogna. Assessing the inventory, there's a distinct feeling that they were unloading excess from their kitchen in the swift transition to take out only. Still, it's a luxury to be able to procure these fresh, locally grown mystery vegetables. It's also a small metaphor for these times: we're all cooking with some unknown ingredients now.
Like so many of you, I've turned to the ritual of the kitchen. I've welcomed the nightly routine of looking at what I have available and figuring out the possibilities instead of only seeing what could come together with a quick trip to the store for an ingredient or two.
We can't quite be recipe-followers right now. We're all getting resourceful. We're pushing ourselves past the comfort zone in the kitchen, in life. This collective inventiveness is seeping out in Zoom birthday parties and Instagram talk shows (it me) and a sudden interest in running. It's the Met Opera streaming nightly and fashion designers jumping into action making masks for front line workers. We're creating solutions with the ingredients we have on hand.
And still, we can only do what we can with what we have. We can pace ourselves by checking in on each other and checking inwards. On a scale of 1-10, where are you today? Where are you really? "I'm hovering in the 6-7 range," I say, which is a safe answer if not always a completely honest one. So a reminder to myself and you: it's okay to be at a 3. It's also okay to be at a 10. You don't have to be a 7 just to make everyone around you feel comfortable. This instability and unknown is shared. We're doing what we can with the ingredients we have.
To me, you are a known ingredient. You are comfort. I hope that these little notes can be comfort too. We're aiming for Wednesdays and Fridays with these newsletters. And I thank you for reading and replying. I truly hope to see you soon.
xo,
Molly
✨Is This Working?✨
In case you missed it, I started a 2-3x/week interview show, Is This Working? about what all of us are doing to make things work right here right now. You can tune into the chats on The Assembly IG Live at 3pm PT or catch replays on Vimeo and highlights (including product recommendations from my guests) right here. In our first episode, I talked to artist Aleksandra Zee. Next up, we're highlighting founder Trinity Mouzon Wofford.
In the latest episode of Is This Working? I sat down across the virtual divide with Trinity Mouzon Wofford, CEO and Co-Founder of Golde, the super-food based wellness company. Golde was born from the creativity and ingenuity of Trinity and her high school sweetheart, Issay. Trinity comes to us from her space in Brooklyn, where she shares a bit about the routines and products she uses to soothe herself in stressful moments. Trinity self-funded and built Golde for three years before recently embarking on her first fundraise, all of which we get to over the course of our conversation.
The expertise and confidence she has cultivated through owning every part of her business are apparent in everything she does. She's also been WFH-ing for a while now and has some tips for those of us who are making this work for us right now. Plus, if you're curious about the benefits of chewing raw garlic, Trinity's your girl.
Trinity's CEO-WFH strategy: "I work from home and now apparently we all work from home. I make a point whenever I can to leave for an hour and just walk around. I’ve found that, especially as a founder of a growing business, it always feels like there’s more time that you can spend on something and more that you should be doing. You really have to find a way to let go of that sense of guilt.
I find that if I can really lean into the ways that I feel most productive and lean away from the stuff that makes me feel really drained and resentful of my opportunities, then I’m a better CEO, I’m a better friend, I’m a better partner. So I think it’s about figuring out where you have to draw those lines for yourself and really doing your best to honor them."
Trinity's Recommendations:
Golde Cacao Turmeric Blend Cacao is a natural stress reliever, so instead of (or, like, in conjunction with) grabbing chocolate...try this.
Veles All-Purpose Cleaner It's made from water that’s recovered from sustainable sources AND all the chemicals in it come from food waste. Veles makes this clean product that actually works. Perfect for the 100th wipe down of all the many non-porous surfaces in your space.
Golde Clean Greens Facemask A green juice for your skin, which is especially helpful for breakouts (and LOL who isn't breaking out right now).
Supernal Cosmic Glow Oil This rich face oil is packed with Vitamin C. Trinity mixes it with her Clean Greens Facemask. Also, it is proven to make you feel (rightfully) fancy.
Watch our full interview here (she's v cool).
⚡️Permission Granted⚡️
This situation has not yet made meditation any easier for me. That said, it's worth trying! We're uploading 10-minute practices from our practitioners starting with The Art of Presence – A Guided Meditation with Nkechi Njaka, now on Instagram TV for your meditating pleasure.
Y'all want to invest in some sweats, I hear? SOFT vibes: Lou & Grey. Cult Chic: Entireworld sweatsuits (big love to this whole brand). Lightweight joggers: Vuori. Sustainable & Good: For Days($ from each purchase is also going to sewing masks for health care workers). And finally, the maker of my all time favorite sweatshirt now has a womens line and I would like it all: Reigning Champ.
I am watching Tiger King, which is wild and a little stressful and also Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu (okay, truly also a lot of animal Tik Toks). While I work, I am running a playlist of Tiny Desk Concerts on YouTube (start with Chika) and tuning into D-Nice's #clubquarantine on Instagram. I am reading Lena Dunham's serialized romance novel, Virtual Strangers, on Vogue.com.
I think we all know it's slipper time. These from EMU are headed my way.