Welcome to Fat Tomato Summer!

...in which we relentlessly (yet casually) locate abundance on this scorched earth.

Hi, welcome back, welcome home, thanks for having me in.

Let’s get to it!

Almost one month ago, I was tooling through the Nashville airport on my way back to Indiana and took this photo of a glorious (and huge!) paper art installation.

It spoke to my guts. While I waited at the gate, I typed out this post on our secret IG account:

This sculpture hanging in the Nashville airport called my name this morning at 6am. Back in the day, even in the early years of living in Goshen, I spent hours making garlands and wreaths and who even knows what from magazine pages and big ol' paper punches from Michael's craft store. It was slow, quiet, therapeutic, creative work. Soul work. Searching for captivating patterns among advertisements and overpriced catalog wares was so fulfilling to me. The entire process was, for me, the ultimate upcycled subversion of the materialism I was trying to fight.

One day, I stopped punching. And then I stopped hanging up my work. I'm sure my taste and preferences changed but I don't think that's the biggest problem, which was and is, this device I'm using to type this note to you. Slowly, over time, it has become more of a go-to.

I kind of hate that.
(I think most of us do.)

It's easier to scroll than to create.

But I want to find my way back. I realize this coincides with my legendary annual outsized expectation for SUMMMER. 😂😬 But, I mean, it could happen.

I want hobbies. Books (always.) Walks. Lounging around. Slowness. Dorkiness. Trying new things. Remembering old ones.

I want my paper punches out on the table, close within reach.

What about you?

I was not feeling super intentional when I hit publish. I was spouting off from the heart, to the people I know will receive (with enthusiasm and/or curiosity) basically whatever I throw your way.

When my plane landed a few hours later, I was surprised to see the collective scream of “SOLIDARITY!” coming from the comments section. A whole bunch of us want to slow down. We’re frustrated by our inability to step away from screens. We want to be the bosses of our own free time, even (especially!) when what we end up doing is a whole lotta nothin’.

We want to create.

We want to rest better.

We want to savor. To enjoy. To lock eyes with the best the world freely gives.

My wheels were spinning. The minute I got home, I scribbled down some notes. Join me for a peek inside my creative journey…

Idea: “Summer of Abundance”

Internal dialogue: Nah, too boring. “Abundance” feels overdone. Something’s missing.