Happy New July!
The second half of 2026 begins!
Dear friends,
It’s a new month!
And you know what that means (or you’re about to!):
It’s time for me to wish you a happy new month!
So, Happy New Month! Here are three nice things about July!
1) SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVING IS HOT!
The summer is hot.
I hope that you can keep cool.
Happy summertime!
It’s the summer. I’m in NYC and it’s very hot out. I understand it’s hot a lot of places. I hope that wherever you are, you are not too hot. I also hope that you are not too cold. I hope that you are just right. Goldilocks style.
The Goldilocks story always reminds me of the middle path in Buddhism. Not too extreme in either direction. Not too strict, not too loose.
There’s a story that I love, about the Buddha having a student who was a musician (here is a version of it). The musician asked about how to practice, because sometimes it seemed like the thing to do was to buckle down and be strict with oneself, and sometimes it seemed like the thing to do was to loosen up and be gentle with oneself. The Buddha asked if the musician would rather the strings be too loose or too tight, and you won’t BELIEVE what the answer was. (You will. It’s Goldilocks.)
I’m like King Midas in a way; everything I touch turns to Goldilocks.
I hope the summer sun shines through your golden locks. (Or if your locks are a different color, through those. Or if you’re bald, I hope you enjoy the sun however much you want to, and that you wear sunscreen. I hope you all wear sunscreen. Not too much, so that you’re drowning in it. But not not enough, because it’s important to protect your skin. A Goldilocks amount. The middle path of sunscreen.)
2) HAPPY BELATED JUNETEENTH!
Freedom at all times
For all beings everywhere
Much love to us all
It’s America’s birthday this month. Have you heard?
Some people refer to it as “Independence Day.”
I learned that growing up. And then later in life, I learned about Juneteenth, the day when EVERYONE in the country was officially free, due to the Emancipation Proclamation’s final enforcement to end slavery everywhere, on June 19, 1865.
So, happy belated Juneteenth, everyone. I think there are some days and concepts that are worth celebrating beyond the chronological scope of the day itself, and this is one of them. As many wise folks have said...
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” - Fannie Lou Hamer
“Until we are all free, we are none of us free” - Emma Lazarus
“No one of us can be free until everybody is free” - Maya Angelou
It is a work in progress. America. Freedom. We are all working on it. Or, a lot of us are. Thank you for working on it.
PS Relatedly, here is a great cartoon about the SAVE act, from Aubrey Hirsch (click and scroll through, if you like! it is many panels):
3) SUMMER VACATION!
Summer vacation!
Vacate some? Or vacate more?
Some more vacation!
This is the first full month of summer.
I hope you get to relax some. If you like relaxing.
To work and play and rest and live in whatever your optimal combination.
In embodying this spirit, I am going to take a break from writing much more here.
Enjoy! Good summer to you! Be free! Help others be free! Something else about Goldilocks! Much love, all!