issue seven: our golden threads
a short one that comes to you by request
There’s a dreamlike quality to the light of spring in Los Angeles. An ordinary mysticism. There are two jasmine bushes on my block and, every day, I feel a sense of satisfaction as I walk by them on this errand or that. There was a time when my life felt overfilled with “this errand or that”—lately, though, what moves me is something more wholly imagined.
In yoga teacher training, we spoke of the golden thread that brings together all of one’s dimensions and complexities to become one woven thread. There are still disparate parts of me, but, thanks to working with coach Meredith, I’m beginning to recognize the rhythm beneath it all: curating connection. More on that below.
The Classifieds
If you know me, you know that I’ve been on a mission to detoxify my life (scented candles are canceled). It was a joy to meet Ella at a Cherub event. She’s the multi-hyphenate founder of Layermor, one of just nine fragrance brands to earn EWG-Verification™. Layermor’s seeing strong early traction: 1M+ organic reach, retail reorders, and a national PO. Ella’s currently raising a $250K pre-seed round to expand retail, scale production, and fuel growth. If you’re an angel investor (or just curious), drop her a line: ella@layermor.com.
If you know me, you also know that I mostly shop secondhand, and truly, all my favorite items are vintage. Sandra is building Retrofit, a secondhand marketplace curated and personalized by AI. She’s looking for a founding engineer.
Recommendations
Modern Wisdom’s podcast with the infamous Naval. I don’t agree with all of his life philosophy (especially the dedication to being “holistically selfish”), but it gave me much to think about. In particular, I loved the adage, “raise kids so that they are quick to learn and hard to kill.”
The Class. I’m fully in this cult and bringing you all with me. The best way to describe this experience is somatic pilates. I almost exclusively listen to either frequency music or Jaycee Gossett’s playlists as I work now. For reference,
this is the vibe:
The idea behind Tea at Shiloh, a place for connection, creation, and curiosity, but not actually Tea at Shiloh. For $48 (the base price, when there isn’t an event or performance on), you’re offered three teas, watercolors, clay, tarot cards, and a smattering of books. I’d love to see something like this, but affordable and maybe with more facilitation. I’m inspired by Atelier Jolie and Straight Girls.
Doing creative things with friends. A friend and I started Charm School, the second of two with-friends creative acts (the first, closed to the public for now, is a dinner series called Sophos Society). And so, the thread strengthens 🧶.
Typeform has been erroring out for me; I know there are a few submissions in there that I haven’t been able to collect, so for now, email me directly with your good gossip: liliancaylee@gmail.com.