Try Love Again

and again

Hello Hello All,

Happy new year—I began writing this letter on the most Monday-feeling Thursday ever. I hope you all are getting back into the flow of things post-holidays and New Year’s.

I was able to get out into the Catskills for a couple of days and enjoyed some hiking and slow, quiet time. Grateful for the mountain air so close to home.

Starting off with a little anecdote from a recent squash session: I ended up playing with someone I’d just met. In between rallies, we started chatting about how we each ended up here Upstate—where we live, what we do—and I launched into my usual rundown: I graduated from New Paltz, moved from the city, worked briefly in solar, then got into farming, spent some years on historical restoration projects, and finally landed in real estate. Without missing a beat, my new squash buddy uttered, “Ah, so you sold out….” I found myself both calm and clamoring to reclaim the values and morals that were more obvious during my previous roles. At the same time, I also realized I didn’t have the time or energy to defend them fully. But I was certainly left with the feeling, “Damn, this industry has loads of work to do…”

Anyway, shifting gears… That conversation about real estate and personal values got me thinking about the many ways we stay open and connected—sometimes through our work, and sometimes through the simple joys that bring people together. One of those joys, which feels universal and needs no words, is music.

Starting the year off with a song recommendation <33 and a quick invite to an event here in Kingston. I was lucky to come across the record “Try Love Again” while listening to an interview with one of my favorite DJs & music producers, Jamie XX. The importance of a DJ, in my opinion, is playing music you didn’t know you needed to hear.

So here’s the song “Try Love Again.” Its message—about protecting your heart, opening it again, feeling vulnerable, getting it broken… Over Christmas, I watched The Grinch with my sweetheart, and the movie is basically about a damaged soul, scorned into ruining the merry vibes. In this 21st century, here’s to keeping our hearts open, thinking from them, and moving from them.

I’ll segue quickly into an event happening at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston this Sunday, the 5th. I’ve been a fan of the Ambient Church series, and this’ll be my first time attending—and volunteering—to help the evening run smoothly. I’m glad to see the series make its way upstate. It promises a mellow, ambient night with visual projections highlighting the church’s beautiful architecture. I’m a sucker for immersive art, and I hope to see some of you there this Sunday evening :)

Ticket link below

https://www.ambient.church/event/laraaji-vision-songs-hudson-valley/r/recyvf1S1ytykLMgv

That’s all for now! Hope to see some of you soon— please stay curious, connected, and creative this new year in ways both big and small

Till Soon