Dabhar Digest: February

Hello dear ones! I skipped this little recap in January, but I’m excited to share some random things from around my life edges that are bringing me joy and curiosity.

TEA!

In honor of Black History Month, here’s a wonderful small Black-woman-owned business to support: Just Add Honey Tea Company. If you didn’t know, I am a tea junkie (I don’t do coffee) and one of my favorite things is searching for good blends of teas. Earl Grey is my everyday go-to, and Just Add Honey’s Earl Grey Cream blend is my favorite. You don’t even need to add milk, but of course you can. I also highly recommend her Georgia Peaches tea blend. If I’m ever in Atlanta, I’ll be going by the shop and signing up for one of her tea blending classes!

WATERCOLOR!

This is one time when I’m actually quite happy I fell into the IG algorithm. I saw these darling little watercolor books from Emily Lex Studio and thought they’d be a great gift for my daughter. I saw she had one entirely of birds, and I grabbed that for myself, too. I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had! So much so, that I’ve purchased two more watercolor books from the bookstore, ordered more watercolor paints, and have just been having a TIME. My new rhythm is to watercolor a page before I begin writing my book. It’s centered me, cleared out my thoughts, and given me a great way to prepare my mind for the creative task at hand. I do not expect to get good at it, and do not really care. It is fun, low-stakes, and calming. Just the right hobby for the moment.

TV BINGE SHOW

My daughter and I recently watched Dune 2, which was fantastic. But we kept saying to each other, “What is the deal with the Bene Gesserit?” “I have questions about the Bene Gesserit,” “I would like the whole origin story of the Bene Gesserit.” And then we saw that Max has a whole television series called Dune: Prophecy about this very thing. Friends, we watched the whole series in a weekend. It is very good. We know many things now and it was very much worth learning. If you find religious tradition backstories interesting, especially the bits when the good stuff gets co-opted or twisted or manipulated or straight up changed, this is your kind of story.

CAVE PAINTINGS!

I will do my best not to turn into that girl who endlessly shares stories of the one time she went to India, but I am indeed a little obsessed with the caves we visited at Ajanta and Ellora. This picture below, which is in every art history book in modern times, is from the Buddhist caves in Ajanta. It depicts the bodhisattva Padmapani extending gentleness. It dates back— get this— to the fifth century BCE. The colors are all naturally sourced, other than the blue, which they believe was imported as lapis lazuli. Notice the stunning detail work, the use of perspective. Our guide told us this level of painting wasn’t seen in the Western world until the Renaissance. (In a CAVE!)

Sending you love, light, and the hope of rare beauty in hidden caves.