Dear Friends,

Thursday night, purely by virtue of existing in a body halfway through its 35th year, I pinched a nerve in my back so badly that I couldn’t sleep or breathe deeply or do anything but sit cross-legged with spine erect while mainlining ibuprofen. Today it’s as if the past 40 hours (initially I wrote “years”, this is the millennial condition) have been a terrible nightmare from which I’ve woken into a beautiful summer’s day, humidity a soft rumour on the edges of birdsong and cool breeze.

I don’t entirely know what to do with this; it has the feeling of a metaphor missing its tenor. But it’s July, and for many of you it’s a holiday weekend, and I wish you joy of it. I hope you’re all able to breathe deeply, to sleep, to do more than sit so still that pain can’t find you.

For my part, I have work to do and I’m looking forward to it, and that feels like a gift.

Tell me what’s bringing you joy, or small pleasure, or relief lately?

Love,

Amal