Monday Matter: Danish butter cookie tins and the sound of grief

Your biweekly Foreign Bodies roundup

Every other Monday, I send subscribers and gift recipients of immigrant mental health and storytelling newsletter Foreign Bodies stories I recently inhaled and adored. This is also a chance to do some housekeeping and give shout-outs and all that jazz.

First things first

A little housekeeping

We are stardust, we are golden 💫

Happy newsletter Monday, dear Foreign Bodies readers! It’s been an eventful weekish since I last met you here. I recently had the pleasure of witnessing the great Joni Mitchell for a live jam at the gorgeous Gorge Amphitheatre and am still on a high from the experience. Overall feeling grateful for this slowdown before the next semester of grad school begins. Now to get disciplined about my current lackadaisical reading and writing routine…

Photos from Joni Jam with my baby brother:

Joni Jam with the broski

A musical start to your Mondays 🎧

One song to groove to, cry to, drive to and share

This week’s pick, recommended by reader Jalen C., is Honduran Punta rock group Banda Blanca, best known for their 1990 song, “Soap De Caracol.”

Resource(s) of the week

Something helpful and interesting and cool (*storytelling opportunity)

• Asian Mental Health Collective Virtual Support Group for LGBTQIA+ Asians: An 8-week healing justice space designed by and for LGBTQIA+ individuals of Asian descent. The third session, scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, will explore ancestry and family of origin. Follow @asianmentalhealthcollective on Instagram for week 4 details! Hat tip to dear Kris Banda, who will be cofacilitating. Register for the upcoming session here.

• How to talk to your (skeptical) family about therapy: The latest installment of Sahaj Kohli’s Washington Post advice column features seven strategies for not only normalizing therapy and mental health care, but discussing the subject in a way that actually reaches our loved ones.