Expanding your surface area
The joys of being out and about!
Can you believe it’s already JUNE?!?!?
My friends and I have decided that this is going to be “Lucky Girl Summer.” We text each other to share our “LGA”s (lucky girl alerts) whenever something serendipitous, lucky, or fun happens to us. It’s the best because 1) I love celebrating lucky moments and 2) it makes me pause, reflect, and appreciate them when they occur!
I saw a note a few months ago that said “The best way to increase your luck is to expand your surface area.” And I just loved that, because it’s TRUE! I can’t begin to recount all of the ways that “expanding my surface area” has made my life richer, even recently: showing up to a party on my own introduced me to a bunch of new, wonderful friends. Sharing my love for Survivor led to a new friend who let me borrow his life-size Survivor games for a party. Sending an email opened an exciting door for me at work. Talking incessantly about how much I love Count of Monte Cristo has created an unofficial book club with 5+ of my friends who are now on the journey with me! Lucky lucky lucky.
And I think the summertime is the BEST time to expand our surface areas. To go on a trip, say yes to the coffee, show up at an event, introduce yourself — the wider our surface area gets, the more opportunities show up and the more doors open! The better weather means that people are out and living their best lives, and it’s an amazing time to embrace whatever your city or community has to offer.
This past week, I experienced a whole bunch of “expanded surface area” moments. On Wednesday night, I joined my dear friend Alison at the CIC to chat about her book! It was a miraculously clear night and so much fun to see friends and celebrate Alison’s accomplishment!
On Thursday night, I hosted a party for my friend, Anthony, who is entering the Dominican order this summer! We had so much fun making a 15-decade rosary for him, picking his “priest name” (he was very excited to hear our ideas), and celebrating his new adventure.
And then this weekend I headed to NYC on a little “Artist’s trip” (I’m reading Artist’s Way and there are few places as creatively inspiring as NYC). It was a 12/10 weekend with my friend Kelly (who gave me the grand tour of Hoboken, its farmers market, and all of its churches!!) — complete with Ruby’s, Sezane, many churches, Don Antonio, Central Park, and Operation Mincemeat on Broadway. It was also the first time I went down to see NYU and visit my old apartment since graduating, and it was so sweet.
I attended Sunday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the best) and ended up walking a few blocks with a Sister of Life who lives in the house where I used to volunteer — she was, of course, a joy. Every moment of this weekend was a gift — I’m so grateful to be just a train ride away from NYC!
This whole week was a reminder of the importance and goodness of community, of saying yes to things that are fun and exciting. And that's my intention for the summer — to have a lot of fun!
So, how can we expand our surface area this week? Let’s set a few goals for the summer and get ready for the luck!
In Christ,
Jane
What I’m loving lately
The gifts of the Rosary
In a bible study last week, my friend said that praying the rosary makes her feel more “decisive and courageous.” And I thought, wow, I would love to be more decisive and courageous! Thanks to that little reminder, I didn’t skip my Rosary all week. It might be the framing/encouragement you need :)
This summer I have fallen back in love with the Nuxe Prodigiuse Oil — I love putting it on my arms when they’re out, it gives them a lovely glow and smells divine. You can buy it at Ulta or Anthropologie or online! I want to try the shimmering one too.
Hallow recs?
I absolutely LOVED the Detachment series from Hallow, and now that it’s over I’m feeling the gap. Do you have a favorite Hallow series or meditation? Please comment / email me and share!
Archbishop Hicks in NYC
I was able to attend mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this weekend, and I heard the city’s new Archbishop preach - he is excellent. I loved the invitation he offered at the end of his homily on “Magnifica Humanitas”: “How will you be magnificent this week?” A great invitation!
How we live matters
I loved a quote I heard from Fr. Pine last week:
“The way we live either develops our character or undermines our character.”
Woof.
There have been so many great think pieces over the past week about the church and AI — but this one, by far, was my favorite. I loved this reflection:
In the years ahead, each of us will have to discern the lines which separate technology that truly serves us as human persons, made for communion, from technology that does not serve us. But the most important lines we will need to discern aren’t between software programs. They are within our own hearts.
Prayer intentions
For my grandma, Nomi’s, surgery tomorrow!
For a special intention