Well, I carried out a gathering this week. It was fairly small which, in my opinion, makes a lot of sense for the types of gatherings I'm interested in. It was an intimate group of people, in this case my friends, where we went around and discussed objects that we use the most this year. I thought a lot about The Art of Gathering when making this gathering, especially in terms of the goal and exclusion. Though I reacted very negatively to the idea of exclusion at first, I do understand why it's useful and I've been leaning into its benefits. There were friends that I considered including in this gathering, but I chose a group of people I knew would be comfortable sharing with each other. I wanted them to choose objects that truly meant something to them and it might have been more difficult to accomplish this with other people around.

It was pretty interesting, Maggie (the blonde one) talked about her cup that has basically powered her through her thesis. She kind of only drinks diet coke, and by that I mean not a lot of water. She likes it because of how sunny and happy the cup looks. She generally places it on her window sill and so every time she goes to use it, even when it's cloudy, she kind of gets this refreshing energy and it helps her feel less... foggy? I think that was the word she used.

Pauline is holding her flask that has her initials engraved on it. She got it as a present from a family member she hadn't talked to in a long time prior to that. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but effectively its a reminder of this fixed connection in her life.

Gabby, the one who isn't there right now, brought her paint-by-numbers kit that she bought at the beginning of the year. It doesn't have as deep of a meaning as the other ones (her words) but it has been incredibly calming in this crazy shit-show of a year (or years). But the idea of someone giving her easily finishable tasks that require no brain work is very different from the thesis she has to write right now. So it just kind of meant a lot for her.

I have my rabbit, Butthole. I was probably 11 or 12 when I named him and I thought it was hilarious to shout "stop touching my butthole!" out loud during summer camp. It's because he has a little sewn-on butthole. I carry it around with me because I am a very nostalgic person, it reminds me of being a kid and finding the most bland things hilarious and being adventurous. Especially as I get farther away from my childhood the more precious these memories become for me.

One thing I will note about this image is that Gabby was there she just got disconnected and we had to start over because I forgot that I had to take a photo.