Monday menu
5 intentions, from flow states to Fashion Week
Welcome to this week’s 5-piece selection of intentions and directions for the week ahead, based on my personal pillars and priorities such as career, creatvity, physical health, mental health, social circle, dining, reading, seeking, wearing… and so on. Why? Because spending some time thinking about what you want to achieve and how you want to feel by the end of the week is a really good way to begin it. Intentions don’t have to be serious and sterile, they are about creating, owning and living the life you want to lead. I hope you do something with intention this week, whatever form it takes.
Finding: the ‘flow state’
It can take a lot of trial and error, frustration and anxiety trying to find a ‘flow state’. We all have our particular set-ups and rituals to help induce it, but more often than not, entering the flow state is not a choice, but rather something that happens organically and unexpectedly, taking over your conscious and your clock. Twice in the past week I have entered a genuine and strong flow state and it has felt, somewhat paradoxically, liberating, to be so engaged and wrapped up in something that everything else slips away. To be unconsciously driven by creativity, interest, passion, curiosity, and determination, and to see what results— whether that was the initial aim or not— feels unworldly, and self-assuring. I thrive off effective productivity, so finding my flow state is emancipating and energising— I’m taking the energy forward into this week, and hope to find myself lost in a flow again.Mantra: Water what waters you, and stop tending to that which does not.
In keeping with the water theme, a general but incredibly important intention for this week and beyond is to stop wasting time and energy on things that are not and will not contribute to your life, mind, body and soul, and put your care into things that will. Some plants will completely drain you, and no matter how hard you try, they will never bear fruit, never ground you with their roots, never become a part of your garden. Tend the flowers that invite you in, organically and honestly and passionately. Tend to the ones that promise to bloom and grow, because they will cause you to bloom and grow too— make the choice.Feeding my soul: Fashion Week.
September is fashion month, kicking off with NYFW this week (September 6-11), before moving to London (12-17), Milan (17-23) and Paris (23-1). The February shows are my favourite— A/W fashion makes my heart soar— but that doesn’t stop me shying away from September by any means. It feels like the start of a new term, looking toward the next year as we see out the final few of this one. It is the January of fashion, as American Vogue editor Candy Pratts once said, when fashion comes alive after the slow slumber of Summer. I immerse myself as fully as possible, watching the shows, reading the notes and listening to the interviews/reviews, while writing down my own show notes as I do. My top anticipated shows for this week are:
NYFW Ralph Lauren (who is staging his show in the Hamptons on September 5), Pieter Mulier for Alaia (the first time Alaia has shown in New York for forty years), Prabal Gurung, Khaite, Ulla Johnson, Carolina Herrera, and Meruert Tolegen. I am sweating that Altuzarra isn’t on the schedule right now, but neither was Ralph Lauren so I’m not giving up hope.
LFW (for this week’s run) Harris Reed, Yuhan Wang, Chopova Lowena, Feben, Ahluwalia, Richard Quinn, JW Anderson, Roksanda, Emilia Wickstead, TOVE, 16Arlington, Simone Rocha and, of course, Erdem(!!)
One of my favourite looks from Altuzarra, NYFW February 2024 Working in the field: This week, I am attending the launch of the British Quality Wild Venison scheme, which seeks to open up new markets and promote confidence for buyers of venison meat through quality assurance. The debates about the management of deer and the need to get venison (delicious and sustainable) on the market and the menu really interests me, so I am looking forward to learning and writing about this in due course. Then, I am heading to the new Diptyque in Covent Garden, designed to echo the spirit of their first ever store on the Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris (which is what their signature 34 Boulevard Saint Germain fragrance honours). I will then tread to Parfums de Marly to reacquaint myself with Perseus, before making my way to Monmouth Street for Trudon, Experimental Perfumes Club and Miller Harris, to remind myself of the futher ‘stories’ they are releasing this month.
Creativity: Once upon a time (when trying to find their own flow state, no doubt) Paul McCartney turned to John Lennon and said ‘Let’s write ourselves a swimming pool’. Years later, Paul described this to be spoken ‘out of innocence. Out of normal, fucking working-class glee that we were able to write a ‘swimming pool.’ For the first time in our lives, we could actually do something and earn money.’* Oh, how materialistic and self-serving, I hear you cry! But I really love this quote; it is forgiving and relieving. Yes, it is special to have the opportunity and outlets to be creative for creativity’s sake, but it’s also nice (and for many of us, necessary) to be getting paid for it. There is no shame in wanting to make money from your creativity, and no shame in money being a motivation to keep you being creative. If you don’t need the money, great, if you do, go ahead and create! It doesn’t make you a bad person, and if somebody tells you otherwise, well, they won’t be invited to the pool party.
*https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2018-07-09
*https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-one-for-the-road-43295/
'Water what waters you' indeed