Slow Notes 01
May 2025 in review—and a few recommendations and prompts for you.
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👋 Notes on May
I’m currently reading Ocean Vuong’s stunning new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, and have been thinking about this snippet from his conversation with Oprah:
“[As a writer], you have to really love the world, even when it’s difficult to love. I think description is autobiographical in that when you describe something, you’re giving it a point of view. How you would describe something, how you see something, says a lot about yourself.”
It’s often my default to describe the seasons in a series of lyrical observations, but if I’m being honest, I can only describe this month as… damp: raindrops, tears, sweat, broken umbrellas, stains, half-dried hair, morning grass, puddles.
But I don’t think that tells the whole story, so I’ll try to take it one step further…
In New York, listless gray clouds hang over us like the jackets we’re more than ready to cast off for the time being. Sartorial matters aside, I’d like to believe we’re ready for the heat because we want to feel something other than that pervasive sense of dread that’s become so familiar now. The kind that leads us to isolation or retreat. Yet as
and I discussed in the latest episode of the Slow Stories podcast, sometimes retreat can be restorative.Necessary.
Another necessary thing this month: momentum. For me, it came in the form of travel and talking, the latter of which I’m still reflecting on (and will likely share with you in the coming weeks). In this way, I appreciate how my friend
talked about May in her recent letter:“May will go on without you, it won’t wait, and it also won’t make any concessions when it comes to the rivers and the rain and the insects and the modern noise we have collectively conjured.”
As I continue to reach for the right words to describe this challenging season, I’m amazed at how much we all endure. I’m grateful for the beauty that finds (and fights) its way through the cracks, like light breaking through storm clouds. Like words landing in the order you need them to.
May we all continue to invite that beauty in and keep it—and each other—safe.
May Mainstays
The style essentials and stories that were on rotation and my mind…
Style
Alex Mill Jo Linen Shirt in Dark Brown - EILEEN FISHER Washed Organic Cotton Poplin Classic Collar Long Shirt - Jamie Haller Penny Loafer - Pacific Books Cap in Cream - Pacific x Soeur Books Cap in Brown - Pacific x Soeur Books Cap in Yellow - Sézane Clyde Trench Coat - Sézane Justine Basket Bag in Olive Green - Sézane Cleo Basket Bag
Stories
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton - Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li - The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong - Lion by Sonya Walger
May Memories
Three moments that especially slowed me down this month…
💙 Celebrating our second wedding anniversary
🏠 Staying at Cavallo Point Lodge for the first time
🔆 Checking out “The Semiotics of Dressing” at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery (on view through July 12th)
May Prompts
A few creative prompts for you to consider as May comes to a close…
🌱 Begin a piece of writing with May you__
✍️ Describe what you expected May to feel like versus how it actually felt. What surprised you most?
📖 Curate a reading list inspired by the month of May.
🗣️ If May were an entity or being you could speak with, what would you say or ask?
💭 What felt true this month?
May in Notes 👋
For Your Next Chapter
If you’re enjoying Slow Stories, make sure to catch up on the most recent season of the podcast.
Maggie Smith
What ingredients are necessary to write? Where does a story begin and end? Why is the blank page both endlessly exciting and daunting? For renowned poet, memoirist, and educator Maggie Smith, these questions are the center of her life and work. And in her latest book, DEAR WRITER, she offers something more than straightforward answers.
Pico Iyer
What moves you—and where? Who are you when everything else falls away? What can you find in stillness? Renowned travel writer and speaker Pico Iyer has pursued these questions throughout his storied career and brings them close to home in his latest book, AFLAME.
Caleb Femi
Think about the last time you felt connected to night: the moon’s luminous glow, the rhythms of a house party, the pulsing of the music, the heartbeat of a community. Caleb Femi’s modern epic, THE WICKEDEST, offers a way back to those feelings—and asks us to consider what lies beneath the surface.
Gloria Noto
What is the role of beauty in this day and age? For some, it’s an aesthetic pursuit; for others, it’s simply a state of mind. If we’re talking about the global, multibillion-dollar industry, it’s something else entirely. But for Gloria Noto (founder of NOTO Botanics), beauty is more than meets the eye.
your posts are always so calming :) And congrats on your second wedding anniversary!