Dear ones,
I’ve decided to move my free content to Substack in order to have more control over it. Now is the time for me, because my book, About Bliss, will be published in 2024 and I want to make sure you know where to find me! For many of you, this newsletter will introduce an important change. My name. I will be launching the next chapter of my writing life using my maiden name, Cristina Olivetti, in an attempt to provide a veil of privacy (however thin) for my family. This is not a legal change, but it’s the least I can do for my beloveds who had no choice but to end up related to a memoir writer.
It also just feels right.
I’ve always loved being an Olivetti.
I get to be a little James-Bond-007-sexy-spy-ish having an alias.
And, the truth is, Cristina Olivetti had a lot to say, but didn’t know quite how to say it. I’m curious to see how she behaves with full permission to have air time!
For those of you who followed my blog all those years ago—this space will offer much of the same kind of content—snapshots of my thinking especially as it relates to gender, relationships, and living with one foot in what a lot of people would consider an ideal American life and the rest of me—that other foot, my uterus, my heart and my spirit to name a few—struggling like so many parts of us do—to find a way through. A lot of my thinking is happening in my notebook lately so I’ll share that too:
And because I’ve enjoyed so many other writers’ recommendations on Substack, I’ll be listing a few snacky bites in each post that have tickled me, made me think, or helped me survive.
Here are this week’s snacks:
“In the midst of it all, we still take time to gladden the heart,” Roshi Joan Halifax with Frank Otesaki, in a Dharma talk called Being Alive. This is about an hour and a half—good for a car ride.
Notebooks from Short Hand. These have been a survival tool for me, and have helped me process my days and capture a kind of thinking that I can’t get at while “Writing”…this is my place for Not-Writing, which is a little more interesting to me at the moment.
Tina Seelig’s (entrepreneurship prof at Stanford DSchool) TED talk, “Three things you can do to build a sail that catches the winds of LUCK.” Who couldn’t use a little more luck?
And finally, March 1st is my 51st Birthday—and when I sat down and thought about what I really wanted wanted for my Birthday—what popped up for me was that I really wanted to start gathering my community online again. In a place where I have a little more control, in anticipation of all the excitement that is going to be happening around launching my book. So please join me here by subscribing to my Substack. For those of you who have not used Substack, it is a simple platform that allows writers to publish their own newsletter that will be delivered directly into your email in box. You will be able to set up preferences about delivery if directly into your inbox doesn’t work for you.
Cristina- thank you for your words! I feel this so deeply. My first is moving halfway across the country to start her adulting and my baby just left for their first year at college. You’re so right on all levels. It’s THE feeling that right now feels so heavy, like it will never go away. And all my noting, recording, cherishing, pre-sad moments this past year and summer didn’t help me prepare. It reminds me of the Grinch, where Christmas came just the same. Only it’s sad. Thanks for reminding me I’m not alone. Love to you and Graham. xo