How many Shereen's do you know?
For the first time in my life, a barista asked me if I was Shereen. Pronounced my name right and with such certainty as if I was “The Shereen.” I laughed and said yes, I was indeed a Shereen but I think he was referring to someone else? He was-Shereen from Code Switch. A true honor, yes, to be mistaken for the queen herself but also makes sense since I hear these days she’s at Harvard so our hopeful barista rolled the dice on how many Shereens could exist in this city and thought I was indeed a legend. I loved it mostly in that it's nice to know there is one famous Shereen making the name more common in the western world and hopefully ensure that the next time I use my name for my coffee, they won’t fuck it up so much. But I digress...
These days, but I’m sure most days, I’m trying to focus on being slow. Single tasking. Just enjoying a meal without a phone. Walking to enjoy the weather. Not filling my days with fluff. Really listening to my body but also really listening to myself. Do I want to be here? Do I actually like this person? What gives me pleasure? I’m noticing the small joys like really sitting at my kitchen table, drinking my coffee and reading the news are taking me a long way. I think I’ve been on the hunt for the ideal morning routine for years now but I feel closer to sinking my teeth into something luxurious and that is a small victory but a victory nonetheless. And I’m trying to stop working against myself-to embrace what I love instead of working like an architect to build a new house out of the things I don't want to live in. To just take it at face value if I hate that shit it's probably because that shit sucks full stop and that’s enough to not do it. And if my gut is saying that person is suss, you’re right -they are. You don’t have to play out the whole scene to get into the inevitable “wow that’s such a subpar dissappointing human I can’t believe I wasted a second.” But most of all, after this pandemic, I don’t want to waste a moment on things that don’t fulfill me (lmao jk will fucking finish this degree :) ), on people who do not 100% show up for me and on pasts that have lived past their expiration date in my brian. I want to have my own back and that means unlearning all the people pleasing, all the discomforts of those who don’t live authentically and to let go, even the things that have lived too long in my life in places they don’t belong because I’ve given them space to. And I guess I’m hoping maybe yall will do something similar…
Books I wish I read in High School: Trust Exercise by Susan Choi. I love Susan Choi. I first read her after seeing her on a friend’s bookshelf. She sent me home with it knowing that I’m not the best at returning books ( I sent it back a year later via post) but it was that good that she was willing to be apart for it for god knows why. Choi doesn’t just know how to write-she knows how to write to your inner teen. The one crawled away in her room thinking about newspaper bullshit but also wondering where are the boys? Where is the sense of freedom you’re supposed to get at 16? Where’s the drama? Trust exercise explores a girl who is findling between teen and young adult and you devour it whole because Choi knows how to write about that feeling that keeps you up at night. What if there’s more to life and you’re just the only one who hasn’t figured out the secret sauce.
Read if: You’re in a city where it rains and this weekend you want to play Taurus-stay inside, light a candle and say Imma take some me time.
Not your typical Eat, Pray, Love: Becoming Cliterate: Why orgasm Equality Matters And How to Get It by Laurie Mintz. I binged Sex Education this week. Loved this season. Deepa mentioned that one of the reasons why people love it is because it’s the Sex Education we never got---trueeeee dude!! Particularly the conversation that Viv has with Lily about a particular fantasy. She asks her to share with her partner what she’s into and tell him so he can do it. Also when Mauve is hooking up with Isaac and he asks, “where do you like to be touched?” Separately, I’m also thinking about the Met Gala and how women’s body’s are always demonized always but especially when society deems too much skin is showing. (cc: Zoe Kravitz where she said “Being uncomfortable with the human body is colonization/brainwashing,” she replied. “It’s just a body. We all got em” and Megan Fox’s IG caption “Just me out here ignoring and defying all of your puritanical emotionally repressed projections of what a woman should be.) TLDR; it made me think about how women deserve all of the orgasms. That wasn’t a ton about the book but it’s what made me suggest this book so there’s the context.
Read if: talking about what you want and how you want it, resonates with youuuuuuuu
On Trend: KWE: Standing with our sisters edited by Joseph Boyden
This is on trend in a shit way. A white woman, Gabby Petito has been missing and recently announced dead. It’s a tragedy and it's also an important time to elevate the number of women of color who go missing without the national spotlight. It’s also an important time to revisit how indigenous women go missing all the time and they get no attention and no help to bring the families closure. KWE, which means life giver in Ojibwe, is a collection of works from activists exploring these missing women and asks for a call to action
Read if: you know you need to do more.
Decolonize your Mind: Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton, It is unfortunate and unacceptable that I never read about any trans women, trans women of color and Black trans women in history class. We are way over due to decolonizing our minds around masculinity, femininity, and every other gendered binary way of thinking. This book talks about the intersection of Blackness and queerness through the lens of folks erased from a lot of our history textbooks liek Christine Jorgensen. The question we need to ask ourselves is what kind of world can we intentionally create that is “more livable” for everyone?
Read if: You wish Pose was part of your curriculum and you read more about Black trans women.
Independent Book shop recommendation:
Booklandia in Oakland is a Latinx owned Book shop. It’s for the little toddler in your life aka the kiddos but we all know your insta is inundated with new ass bamp bumps and engagemnets, so this book shop should come in hand.