The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad

I’m continuing my slower summer rhythm, writing with a little less frequency. In my stead is Carmen Radley, editor and community manager here at the Isolation Journals. It’s a fun one today, so please enjoy! —Suleika When I took my first real job as a middle and high school English teacher, my mom—a teacher herself—tried to warn me. “Teaching is hard,” she said. How hard could it be? I thought.

I have no business being a chaos gardener. So why, then, am I spending most of my free time covered in dirt, huffing and puffing behind a wheelbarrow, dragging plants around my yard, puzzling through the ancient art and arithmetic of sunlight, soil, color, scale, and all the other things I do not yet understand? I blame my friend Behida. Behida has a baby, a book deadline, and a business to run.

Vasily Kandinsky, Impression III/Concert (1911) Hey, y’all! Thank you for joining us for today’s Journaling Club! Below you’ll find everything you need for our hour together—a link to the chat, our prompts, and some sonic accompaniment in the form of coffee shop sounds and some playlists. Today’s a very special one—can’t wait to get to it! Until soon, Carmen

Recently I wrote about how I’m shifting to a slower summer rhythm and writing with a little less frequency. In my stead today, I’m excited to introduce my husband, the Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe, and eight-time Grammy award-winning musician, Jon Batiste. Some of you may recall that a couple years ago, around the debut of his album Beethoven Blues, he wrote an essay about authenticity, imagination, and breaking musical barriers. “When we allow forms to evolve, we find new frequencies,” Jon wrote.

Hey, y’all! It’s Carmen here with everything you need to join us for our next virtual Journaling Club. I’m so excited for tomorrow’s gathering—that’s Sunday, June 14, from 1-2pm ET. We’ll be joined by the maestro himself: Jon Batiste. This is going to be a special one! I’ll ask Jon some questions about music-making, we’ll explore (and explode) some song lyrics, and most exciting of all, Jon will give us a sneak peak from his forthcoming album! And, of course, we’ll journal together along the way.

Before we begin, a little context on the person behind this list. My father, Hédi Jaouad, was born and raised in Tunisia. He is a retired professor of French and Francophone literature, and the person who gave me my first passport into a life of reading. When I was growing up, he assigned me summer reading lists that shaped not only my imagination, but the course of my life. Without him—and without the books he pressed into my hands—I’m not sure I would have become a writer.

Early Monday morning, I interrupted my dad during his daily ritual at the public library, where he goes each morning to read and write, and asked him for his essential reading list. I explained that you, dear readers, had asked (demanded!) that Papa Hédi assign us all some summer reading.

Jeannine Harris, digital collage/self-portrait Hey, y’all! Thank you for joining us for today’s Journaling Club! Below you’ll find everything you need for our hour together—our readings and prompts, along with some sonic accompaniment in the form of coffee shop sounds and our Isolation Journals playlist. Until soon, Carmen

Sunday Musings A little update about this newsletter I had intended to write to you this week about gardening. About the childlike joy of muddy hands and a watering can. About the romance of plants with names like “ghost fern,” “euphorbia,” and “the poet’s wife,” and how it feels to dig holes until you can hear the birds again over the static of your own mind.