Hi John!

Today's letter is about the things we take for granted. Its also a reminder that you've got about a week left to shop my Pride Sale.

In this week's email:

Cartoon: Boys will be ___ 🙄
Dad Jokes: A hot one 🏺
Video: It's been making a splash 💦
Post: Rainbow triggggered 🚗
Original: The inbetweener 🌄

CARTOON OF THE WEEK

Sexy Sunday from the Midweek

Here's another installment in my #purityculture cartoon series, Seggsy Sunday. I'm looking forward to compiling these into a book.

This one addresses the double standard of expectations for women versus men.

I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about.

This cartoon isn't available to download or purchase yet, should it be? Let me know!

SEE ON INSTAGRAM

DAD JOKE OF THE WEEK

I told Lisa I wanted to be cremated.

She made an appointment for next Tuesday.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

If you haven't already watched it, my video about LGBTQIA sex and #SexySundays is making waves over on YouTube.

I think you'll enjoy it.

POST OF THE WEEK

This post made people so angry.

I'm not encouraging anyone to damage the property of others. I'm just encouraging you to have a laugh this Pride Month ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

See the post.

ORIGINAL PAINTING

This week's original painting is titled, You Can Find Me In Between.

In between would describe much of my spiritual journey. Maybe yours too?

We are not there, nor there. We are not black or white, but somewhere in the grey.

Not midday or midnight. But mid-light. Dawn. Dusk. Some light. But not all. Some darkness. But not all.

Somewhere in between.

And you know what? I think that's normal and good.

Click here to see it.

A Depression of the Senses

I didn’t realize how important taste and smell were to me until it was gone.

Lisa and I went to Boulder, Colorado, to see our 2 boys who live there now. We had a wonderful time.

BUT… I got a sinus infection.

After a couple of days, I realized I couldn’t taste or smell anything. Of course… we know the two senses are very connected.

I got very sad, to say the least.

Lisa and I love taking the kids out to different restaurants. I love trying different wines and whiskeys and IPAs. I tasted… nothing.

We love going on walks… through the pine woods and canyons and gardens. I smelled… nothing.

Seriously… I got very depressed. I’ve heard of some people post-COVID who never got their senses of taste or smell back. I never thought anything of it until it happened to me.

It’s devastating. Especially to someone who, I now realize, thrives on smells and tastes.

One day… maybe day 5… we were walking on a ridge covered in old pines. I picked a small handful of pine needles, rubbed them between my fingers, and sniffed.

YES! I caught a slight whiff of pine. I was so happy I cried. Not hysterically, but tears came to my eyes and I exclaimed to Lisa what just happened.

Then it was gone again.

It took about 10 days for it to pass. Then it returned to normal.

Whew!

But this experience did something very important for me. I do not take my senses for granted anymore. Like with the Tantric sex email last week… just being here now and enjoying what actually is in this moment… without a goal or desired outcome… that, my friends, is everything.

Joy.
Here.
Now.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Years ago when Thich Nhat Hanh’s book How To Eat came out, Lisa got it at a bookstore and read it out loud to one another on a road trip.

At the time it was interesting. But such truths must be experienced, and we must finally fully align with the deep truth of it in our actual physical lives before we realize it absolutely makes sense.

It’s like I wrote last week about tantric sex… (if you do have sex)… how you do sex is how you do life. And Thich’s admonition is the same: how you eat is how you do life. And how you drink tea is how you do life. How you do one thing is how you do everything.

“Something as simple and ordinary as drinking a cup of tea can bring us great joy and help us feel our connection to the Earth. The way we drink our tea can transform our lives if we truly devote our attention to it. Sometimes we hurry through our daily tasks, looking forward to the time when we can stop and have a cup of tea. But then when we’re finally sitting with the cup in our hands, our mind is still running off into the future and we can’t enjoy what we’re doing; we lose the pleasure of drinking our tea. We need to keep our awareness alive and value each moment of our daily life. We may think our other tasks are less pleasant than drinking tea. But if we do them with awareness, we may find that they’re actually very enjoyable. Drinking a cup of tea is a pleasure we can give ourselves every day. To enjoy our tea, we have to be fully present and know clearly and deeply that we are drinking tea. When you lift your cup, you may like to breathe in the aroma. Looking deeply into your tea, you see that you are drinking fragrant plants that are the gift of Mother Earth. You see the labor of the tea pickers; you see the luscious tea fields and plantations in Sri Lanka, China, and Vietnam. You know that you are drinking a cloud; you are drinking the rain. The tea contains the whole universe.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh, How to Eat.

A FINAL NOTE

What's bringing you joy right now? My advice is not to take it for granted.

Thanks for reading my newsletter again! I hope you found it interesting and helpful - even if it just made you smile for a second.

Much love, my friends!

David

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