La Beauté d'Être

For the Love of Crosswords: How the Beloved Puzzle is Reshaping to Reflect Our Modern World

My addiction to crossword puzzles began with a misunderstanding. Early on in the pandemic, my mom remarked how my brother, who lives in Brooklyn, was enjoying The New Yorker puzzle. As a New Yorker addict, I immediately assumed she was referring to the magazine’s crossword. Thus, to keep up with a common activity that would hopefully link us despite quarantining on opposite sides of the country, I decided to try my hand at what would become a fabulous way to pass the time during the long days of the pandemic.

But my mom was in fact referring to the jigsaw puzzle of a New Yorker cover we had sent him—not the crossword. Oh well. My love affair with crosswords had already begun.

I looked forward to every Monday and Friday, when my beloved magazine published the “challenging puzzle” and the “lightly challenging puzzle,” respectively. Later, it would introduce a third, “moderately challenging puzzle” on Wednesdays, which felt like an early Christmas present. This addition proved to be vital, for as my skills continued to improve, I finished each puzzle more quickly and could not have waited until Friday for a fresh one.

I developed a routine where I would print out the puzzle, grab a pencil with a good eraser, and bring them with me just about everywhere. Only much later did I realize that crossword puzzles, for me, were a politically correct form of escapism, a method to distract myself from my own thoughts, the painful idleness of boredom, the excruciating feeling of a lack of productivity. Crosswords became my Netflix, my Sports Center, my reality TV. But surely the compulsion was different than these, I told myself. Crossword puzzles challenge the mind; they make one smarter! But a distraction is a distraction is a distraction, and, sometime or another, one will have to face what one was trying to escape.

The first “Word-Cross puzzle” was created in 1913 by New York World editor Arthur Wynne, who wanted to add something new and exciting to the paper’s FUN section. An illustrator later mistakenly referred to the game as a “Cross-Word,” and hence the name was born.

But the puzzles, in one sense, were vital; they provided readers a brief respite from the dire news of the first World War that seemed to dominate the papers at the time. And after the war ended, readers still gravitated toward them. Richard Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster—founders of the famed publishing house Simon & Schuster—published a crossword book, which came with a free pencil, in 1924. There was even a comic strip called “Cross Word Cal,” created by the cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller, and a 1925 Disney short entitled “Alice Solves the Puzzle.”

Today, the most well-known crossword puzzle publisher is arguably The New York Times, but the newspaper was relatively late to embrace the national—and global—trend. The Times believed that games of that sort were beneath them and undermined their high journalistic standards. Indeed, a 1924 opinion column in the newspaper described crosswords as “a primitive sort of mental exercise.”

But after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 18, 1941, The Times realized that it “ought to proceed with the puzzle,” the Sunday editor Lester Markel wrote at the time. In a grim but all too familiar world plagued by war, the prestigious newspaper realized that to provide its readers with a relatively mindless distraction was to provide them relief, if only temporarily. Margaret Farrar, who later became the paper’s first crossword editor, once wrote, “You can’t think of your troubles while solving a crossword …”

Many cruciverbalists would certainly relate to Farrar’s statement. In addition to aiding in temporarily forgetting one’s troubles, crosswords challenge the mind to think in novel ways. Clever clues often reveal the surprising diversity of a single word, or the pleasure of certain idioms when taken literally (“It’s on a roll”: SESAMESEED). What may seem obvious to one person can be entirely cryptic to another—a testament to how one’s experiences impact one’s worldview. Where my dad sees a verb, I may see a noun. Context is everything.

And yet some contexts tend to be favored more than others. Crossword submissions must be green-lighted by editors, “but one editor’s demerit is another solver’s lexicon,” puzzle constructor Natan Last wrote in The Atlantic. “Constructors constantly argue with editors that their culture is puzzle-worthy, only to hear feedback greased by bias, and occasionally outright sexism or racism.”

Puzzles are created with their audience in mind; as a result, editors hold a significant amount of power regarding what can be considered culturally relevant. I’ll admit that I was not aware of such issues until recently. I had viewed crosswords as a fun—and addictive—distraction. And they most certainly are, but they are also a reflection of the cultural climate—one curated by a rather homogenous, select group of people.

In a letter addressed to Eric von Coelln, The Times’ Executive Director of Puzzles, Anna Shechtman, puzzle-creator and former assistant to Will Shortz, the newspaper’s crossword editor, writes in response to test-solver Claire Muscat’s resignation and Last’s Atlantic article:

“Not only was [Muscat] told that she was hired to check for content that might be offensive to female solvers,” Shechtman writes, “she was also asked not to offer advice or feedback outside of that identity-based purview…she was told that her “primary role” was to be a female censor and not, in other words, a multifaceted solver like the puzzle’s other (mostly male) employees.” The letter has since garnered hundreds of signatures.

Matt Gritzmacher, founder of the Substack newsletter “Daily Crossword Links,” where he provides all “the day’s crosswords in one place,” has kept track of puzzle creators’ demographics in an Excel spreadsheet. According to his data, a quarter of The Times’ crosswords were created by “women, non-binary, or gender non-conforming” folks in 2020. At The Atlantic, only 19% were. The New Yorker’s crossword editor, Liz Maynes-Aminzade, is the first female to inhabit the role at a major news outlet since Margaret Farrar in the mid-twentieth century.

Some may attribute these puzzling statistics to a lack of interest among female and gender non-conforming groups, but this inkling appears to be false. The Inkubator, which offers weekly crosswords created only by those who identify as female, provides a space for puzzles “that may not have a chance at mainstream publications due to feminist, political, or provocative content”—content which could easily be killed by editors. (MARIEKONDO and BELLHOOKS, for instance, have been deemed too obscure by some editors.)

Other inclusive outlets include Queer Qrosswords, which seeks to disrupt the heteronormative assumptions of many clues (“Husband’s spouse”: WIFE), and Women of Letters—founded by Patti Varol, also of The Inkubator—which offers a female-created and -edited crossword book in exchange for donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood and Girls Not Brides.

Men, too, are speaking up for greater representation in the CrossWorld, as it is lovingly referred to. At USA Today, whose crossword editor, Erik Agard, wore a tee-shirt that read “Publish More Women” to a crossword tournament, 69% of their puzzles in 2020 were created by women and gender non-conforming folks, according to Gritzmacher’s data. The tide seems to be turning, but there is still ample room for improvement.

The events of recent years have taught us about the importance of language. I am certainly more hyperaware of the words I use, and I posit that I am not alone. My love of French has rendered me especially attuned to the nuances of language and how one’s culture manifests, in part, in one’s speech. What are we supposed to make of the fact that it is la as opposed to le COVID, or that the word for doctor, médecin, is still always masculine? And which pronouns do gender-nonconforming French-speakers prefer, considering that il and elle are currently the only formally-accepted options? Needless to say, words carry weight.

But why didn’t I assign the same weight to the language used in crosswords? They are arguably an even more profound window into culture considering their play on words, historical references, and knowledge of what is en vogue today. For some reason, I did not view these puzzles through the same lens as I had other forms of media. Perhaps it was because the crossword was my escape from daily life; it was a form of meditation that allowed me to unplug, think critically, and be amused.

And crosswords can still be all of these things. It is unlikely that the grandfathers of the modern crossword puzzle maliciously tried to omit certain perspectives. Still, puzzles were created in an echo chamber of sorts. Up until recently, perhaps a gay or trans cruciverbalist would not have been able to enjoy a puzzle as much as I had. But pioneers like The Inkubator and Queer Qrosswords are happily disrupting the CrossWorld, spreading the joy to more people. The word-lovers who founded such outlets saw a gap where others—including myself—did not.

I still see crosswords as a fun vocabulary lesson and an exercise in questioning what we have been hardwired to believe. In two New Yorker puzzles from last year, “support staff” denoted CANE, and “Hot spot?” referred to EROGENOUS ZONE. Not only do such clues make me laugh or smile out of admiration for the creator’s cunning, but they force me to question how much of what I think and say results from habit rather than mindful, deliberate decisions.

“Crosswords defamiliarize the familiar,” writes The New Yorker’s Adrienne Raphel. “The idiosyncratic logic of a puzzle forces the brain to stop and undo its underlying assumptions. Each clue-and-answer pairing forces you to create a different kind of connection, which makes every word pop out afresh.”

Raphel eloquently articulates the joy of solving a crossword puzzle, which often results from the joy of discovering a new perspective through which to view a word, a phrase, or an idea. Shaking things up is an essential component of a crossword’s allure. Fostering greater inclusivity, then, is a natural extension of what a puzzle is meant to do.

I recently took advantage of The Inkubator’s free trial, which generously lasts for a couple months. Their most recent iteration contained all the hallmarks of a rewarding puzzle: difficult clues few will get right off the bat (“Malaysian state that’s home to George Town”: PENANG), adroit linguistic observations (“Substance that sounds like a mendacity”: LYE), and pop culture references that require some effort to remember (“Eldest Schuyler sister in ‘Hamilton’”: ANGELICA).

But much of the clues—a greater amount than most crosswords I’ve seen— focused on women. The answer to “Bell, really” was BRONTE, referring to the famed sisters’ pen names. STILLIRISE answered “Maya Angelou poem with ‘gifts that my ancestors gave.’” OBAMA resulted from “‘Becoming’ Michelle” rather than a clue related to her husband.

Crosswords will likely never disappear. Instead, one would expect them to morph and change with the times just as novels, movies, television shows, fashion trends, and even food do. The crossword shift may be somewhat late, but the recent efforts to promote a narrative that more accurately reflects this moment in history are a testament to the power words hold, and how they can be used to broaden the stories we hear and tell.

In the meantime, I will continue to indulge in my crossword addiction, forever partaking in its celebration of language. But now I will do so with a more discerning eye. And after the successful completion of a puzzle, I invariably feel like the answer to The Inkubator’s most recent 34 Across, “Maxine Hong Kingston’s genre-defying memoir”: THEWOMANWARRIOR.

Let’s Talk About Sex: The Disparity Between How Sex Workers and the Media View the World’s Oldest Profession

Often referred to as the world’s oldest profession, prostitution has aroused controversy for millennia, with historical accounts dating back to the Book of Genesis. Sex work still exists and will likely never disappear, but the profession is nevertheless plagued with stigma. This stigma is especially prevalent in Nevada, the only state where prostitution is legal. A 2018 Wall Street Journal article labeled the industry “as much a part of the Silver State’s image of sin and debauchery as gaming and bachelor parties.” Much of the media coverage surrounding sex workers, however, delivers a skewed and incomplete representation of their work while failing to include the perspectives of the workers themselves, which reveal a completely different side to the sex industry.

Two-thousand eighteen was an important year for Nevada sex workers as activists sought to outlaw prostitution in Nye and Lyon counties by lobbying Nevadans to vote on the issue on that year’s November ballot. The Washington Post reported on the activists’ efforts, noting how the Lyon County campaign was pioneered by the End Trafficking and Prostitution Political Action Committee, which “reject[ed] the idea that any woman would choose to do sex work for a living.” Instead, many perceive sex workers as victims forced into the profession. Awaken, a non-profit aimed at fighting commercial sexual exploitation, regards prostitution as “a legal framework which fuels sexual exploitation and violence,” according to its website.

Many sex workers, however, challenge the notion that the majority of people in their profession are forced into it, and the media rarely reflects this. The media often assumes that the majority of sex work results from human trafficking or dire financial situations. While these problematic issues must be addressed, they do not represent why most sex workers enter the industry. Kiteh Kawasaki, a sex worker at Nevada’s Moonlite Bunny Ranch, expressed a similar sentiment in an email. “I don’t want [to be] rescued from my ‘awful’ predicament. Sex is natural and enjoyable,” she wrote. Similarly, Katie Summers, who works at the Kit Kat Guest Ranch near Carson City, enthusiastically shared how much she enjoys her work. After working as a dental assistant, she chose to transition to sex work, remarking how most women enter into the profession because they want to.

But it is difficult for the American public to recognize that many women voluntarily choose sex work. Headlines such as “4 Women Accused of Running Prostitution Ring,” which ran in several state publications in 2019, contribute to the unrepresentative, dramatic, and narrow narrative surrounding the sex industry. Kawasaki, of the Bunny Ranch, shared how “American journalists tend to portray sex workers as victims or ripoff artists,” and Summers, of the KitKat Ranch, remarked how she wanted “affirmation of being a person, not just a prostitute.” Indeed, legal sex workers were not even eligible for the Small Business Administration loans made available to help those struggling during the pandemic, further highlighting the illegitimacy many people associate with the sex industry.

Kawasaki argues that the media often succumbs to “scripted, shallow, sensational and inaccurate” portrayals. Moreover, the intimacy and connection involved tends to be absent from the discussion. Alice Little, Nevada’s highest-paid sex worker who earned over one million dollars in 2019, emphasizes the emotional labor involved in her profession, adding that much of her work revolves around caring for others. “The original group of people who did this form of labor for society were sex workers,” Little said over Zoom. “We existed before psychologists, before therapists, before doctors […] We helped people through whatever it was that they were experiencing.” While Little does acknowledge the role sex plays, she stresses that it is largely a manifestation of physical closeness and trust as opposed to mere physical desire, adding that many sex workers view themselves as “therapists, but naked.”

Summers, too, described how her interactions with clients are often more than merely sexual, “quick and easy” encounters. She will often spend months getting to know a client prior to meeting them in person and works hard to ensure that they are comfortable. Summers wishes that, instead of focusing on money, the number of clients, and sex, the media would look beyond the physical aspect of sex work, highlighting its more therapeutic, intimate components.

The media, Kawasaki claims, “rarely gets to really know people that work in this business […] Unbiased factual reporting is a lost art.” Like Summers stressed over the phone, sex work is not so “straightforward,” and much of its nuance becomes lost in its dominantly sensationalist and unrepresentative media portrayal. Indeed, articles describing the joy experienced by sex workers and their clients are difficult to find. “I enjoy having sex for money,” Kawasaki said. “I hate fighting busybodies for the ‘right’ to do that legally every legislative session. It’s legal. Leave us alone to work in peace.”

In Writing and in Life, Anne Lamott Urges Us to Take it Bird by Bird

A couple of years ago I made the decision to become a “writer”—someone who explores and learns and arranges words for a living. The New Yorker became my muse, and each issue whetted my intellectual appetite, demonstrating all of the topics one could explore as a writer. A writer, I thought, was, in essence, a professional learner. I envisioned myself traveling to myriad countries, speaking with fascinating individuals, and constantly learning.

What I did not envision, however, was just how painful the act of writing was.

Forcing myself to sit down and stare at a blank page was—and still is—excruciating. Why won’t the sentences come? Why aren’t the words flowing like they should? I would think to myself. How could I be a writer (and doesn’t everyone want to be a writer?) if I didn’t enjoy the act itself?
Something had to be wrong with me, and I frequently questioned my career aspirations as a result. But then I discovered that I wasn’t alone.
I had frequently heard about Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life from numerous writers, but it took me quite a while—several years, in fact—to finally purchase and read it. A writing manual just did not seem very entertaining to me, despite my love of nonfiction. But a manual it is not, and this became evident as soon as I picked it up.

Lamott has published seven novels, many nonfiction books, and several essayistic collections. Bird by Bird was the first piece of her work that I have read, but I am certainly eager to read more. Each chapter demonstrates a simple but immensely helpful bit of writing advice, such as the necessity of writing “shitty first drafts,” for instance, or combatting “the hopelessness of trying to put words on paper” by writing about one’s memories of school lunches.

Lamott does not glorify the act of writing but rather offers an unglamorous and honest description of all that it entails. Her portrait doesn’t fit the writer career fantasy I had created several years ago, but it does mirror my actual experience. Lamott asserts that “good writing is about telling the truth,” but “turns out to be about as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat.” She describes her students, who “show up for the first day of the workshop looking like bright goofy ducklings who will follow me anywhere, but by the time the second class rolls around, they look at me as if the engagement is definitely off.”

Writing is a challenging, arduous task, but for Lamott, it is still worth doing, not least because the mental discipline a writer must cultivate applies to just about every aspect of one’s life. An entire chapter is dedicated to perfectionism, for instance, “the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.” Perfectionism, of course, “will ruin your writing.” But Lamott goes further: “Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.”

In every chapter, we come away with a bouquet of gems like this, worthy of compiling into a small book of daily inspiration. And any sense of cliché one may detect is readily dissolved by Lamott’s sharp wit and self-deprecating humor. One particularly raw chapter concerns jealously, specifically the jealousy felt when all of one’s “writer friends” seemingly acquire great success—but jealousy is so powerful it can transcend any particular circumstance.

“You are going to feel awful beyond words,” she writes about jealousy. “It can wreak just the tiniest bit of havoc on your self-esteem to find that you are hoping for small bad things to happen to this friend—for, say, her head to blow up.”

I chuckled to myself after reading this, feeling at once ashamed for relating to her feelings, but also less abnormal. And this is Lamott’s superpower: to make the reader feel less alone, to masterfully articulate what we have always felt, perhaps, but lacked the vocabulary to precisely describe it. This was my experience, anyway.

But for all the honesty surrounding the emotional and psychological pain of putting words to paper, Lamott reminds her audience why she nonetheless continues to do it. “Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave,” she writes. Indeed, sometimes I am amazed by how a certain author is capable of arranging words so perfectly so as to convey some profound truth which causes me to observe my surroundings more intently and urges me to probe more deeply into my learned behaviors and thought patterns. “An author,” she says, “makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift.”

And this is precisely the effect Lamott had on me. Bird by Bird is essentially a philosophical manifesto disguised as a book of writing advice (although I’m sure Lamott would disagree with this).

“Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious,” she writes. Living consciously is arguably the best profession one could have because, for me, to live consciously is to learn constantly. Lamott seems to share, perhaps implicitly, this idea of a writer as a professional learner. But even more importantly, to write is to connect. I never understood just how intimate the act of writing is, but enduring all that writing requires just to share part of one’s mind with an audience is rather absurd, but also beautiful.

“When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader,” Lamott writes. “He or she will recognize his or her life and truth in what you say, in the pictures you have painted, and this decreases the terrible sense of isolation that we have all had too much of.”

My Favorite Podcasts

When I first discovered podcasts, it was a revelation.

Rather than listening to the same songs over and over again on the radio, or to NPR (which I loved but rarely connected to the material), or to the Dan Patrick Show (unfortunately interrupted by seemingly endless commercial breaks), podcasts provided a deliberate source of education, an entertaining means of distraction and nourishment.

Today, podcasts have become an integral part of my life. I listen to them while walking to class, while on a run, when getting ready, or during pre-bed stretching sessions. They provide food for thought, helpful advice, radical ways of reframing the mind, and various perspectives on a wide range of topics. Podcasts have taught me how to think and have made me more open-minded; they have affected how I live, which books I read, and the movies I watch. In short, podcasts have infiltrated every aspect of my life, and I am eternally grateful for their influence.

Below are some of my favorites, but there are so many I have yet to explore…

The Tim Ferriss Show–one of my original favorites. Tim interviews experts and top-performers in various fields. Some of my favorite guests include Peter Attia, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Adam Grant, Safi Bahcall, Kevin Rose…so many good episodes! Tim is also raw and authentic, contributing so much wisdom and insight.

Making Sense–Sam Harris is perhaps one of the most intelligent, articulate people I have ever listened to. On his podcasts, he interviews journalists, mediation teachers, psychologists, psychedelic therapy experts, and so many other fascinating people. It can sometime get a bit political, but Sam’s thoughts and insights are worth paying careful attention to.

The Joe Rogan Experience–Joe Rogan is a masterful–and hilarious–interviewer. He is curious and friendly, never afraid to admit when he does not know or understand something. I admire his humility and open mind. His guest list is extremely diverse, ranging from comedians to actors to fitness junkies to nutrition experts to journalists to tech people to entrepreneurs…I tend to pick and choose the episodes that seem the most interesting to me, although I have often stumbled upon some unexpected gems I would not have expected to enjoy.

The Drive–Peter Attia, a renowned longevity doctor, interviews a host of people with the aim of increasing one’s lifespan and health span. Guests include physicians, nutrition experts, and exercise experts, but also people who have overcome tough mental challenges–such as surviving the 2009 forced landing of a US Airways flight in the Hudson River, for instance–or who have found ways to optimize their emotional wellbeing. Peter Attia is admirably self-aware and curious, curating a goldmine of extremely valuable information for how to live a healthy life.

The Kevin Rose Show–Kevin Rose, a friend of Tim Ferriss, has many guests similar to those who appear on The Tim Ferriss Show. I appreciate Rose’s genuine curiosity in addition to his combination of more science-backed interviews with ones that incorporate elements of Eastern forms of medicine. This is a relatively recent discovery, and there are certainly several gems!

Jia Tolentino’s Latest Book Will Change Your Life

The question, What do you want to be when you grow up, often provokes feelings of existential dread as I ponder what, exactly, I am passionate about, and how, exactly, I will eventually make a living. In truth, I would really just like to be an explorer for the rest of my life, utilizing writing as an excuse to learn and travel to my heart’s content. A journalist, after all, can essentially be considered a professional learner, a student of the world, a curious observer. This is what I would like to be when I grow up, and, to be more precise, I would like to be Jia Tolentino.

Jia Tolentino is a 31-year-old staff writer at The New Yorker, a publication to which I seem to have a severe addiction. She lives in Brooklyn, is incredibly kind and personable (I had the privilege of meeting her after an interview she conducted at Books are Magic), and recently came out with her must-read book, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion.

Trick Mirror is a collection of essays that combine Tolentino’s personal experiences with her well-informed observations of current cultural and political phenomenons (sweetgreen, sexual assault on college campuses, marriage, barre, religion). Each essay is meticulously researched, but rather than making incontrovertible claims, Tolentino explores her thoughts and beliefs with humble curiosity, often questioning her own assumptions, acknowledging that what she perceives may very well be incorrect or more nuanced than she realized. This intellectual humility–the willingness to admit that one is prone to mistakes–renders Trick Mirror all the more believable and influential.

This book is unapologetically a feminist text, and, at times, I found myself disagreeing with the strength of some of the author’s statements. But this, I believe, was merely a result of hearing and reading the claims of people who lack the aptitude for nuance, unfairly categorizing all men as predators and labeling women as the superior sex. Of course, such strong views are held by a comically small percentage of feminists. Unfortunately though, these feminists tend to be louder than the rest, resulting in an incomplete picture of what feminism truly is: “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (according to google). Hearing these women misrepresent feminism has made me extra sensitive to the movement; I worry that the pendulum will swing too far in the opposite direction, so some of the pushback I experienced while reading Trick Mirror was not the result of Tolentino’s language or ideas but rather of a heightened sensitivity to issues of gender equality. Tolentino herself acknowledges that not all men are monsters and speaks fondly of her sweet, sensitive partner Andrew. She represents what feminism is actually about.

To fully grasp Trick Mirror‘s genius, though, it merits a second, and perhaps a third, read. I have only read it once, and possess the strong sense that I missed a lot. There are so many gems of wisdom and profound insights that to absorb it all, one must read it again. A single read will not provide the time nor attention required to understand the extent of Tolentino’s various deep dives. Indeed, after completing the book, I felt that I had only scratched the surface of the wisdom she so thoughtfully shared.

In truth, Trick Mirror is a treasure trove of profundity and wit and masterful storytelling, if slightly verbose at times. Tolentino’s keen self-awareness, capacity for asking compelling questions, and willingness to look back at the past with painstaking honesty render Trick Mirror refreshingly honest and incredibly powerful. I usually do not reread books because I want to check them off my list and move on to the next one, but in this case, I believe I have discovered the rare book to which I will continuously return, gaining several new and valuable insights every time.

Positive Activewear Brands

For many people, exercise can seem intimidating–an activity that promotes low self-esteem, comparison, and an unhealthy sense of competition. Indeed, for a seemingly small population, this is what exercise is all about. This negative ethos surrounding exercise has permeated throughout several gyms, studios, and the like, but there nevertheless seems to be a movement towards body positivity, inclusivity, and community when it comes to physical activity. In fact, a strong sense of community can be regarded as one of the primary reasons people exercise. Various exercise brands have decided to refreshingly embrace a positive culture, one that lifts others up and seeks to promote self love. Exercise, rather than being regarded as a punishment or a path towards a “perfect” body, is viewed as a form of self care. It is a crucial component of taking care of one’s body, yes, but also one’s mind and spirit. Listed below are a few brands that promote a positive view of exercise and work towards empowering people through movement.

Outdoor Voices

If you head to the OV website, you’ll see models of all shapes and sizes, including ones with disabilities. OV’s inclusivity makes them all the more lovable, not to mention their extremely high quality, comfortable, fun, and fashionable workout clothes.

Sweaty Betty

This British activewear company is rooted in female empowerment. Their mission is to celebrate all women through movement because it is nourishing, not because it is a way to “win” or “look better.” They promote self-love, as well as love of others, encouraging women to lift other women up.

Barre3

Barre3 offers mindful workouts that challenge, strengthen, and tone the body and mind. They, too, stress how exercise is NOT a competition and really take the time to encourage us to focus inward, placing our attention on one’s own body and how it feels in the present moment. Their workouts feel like a breath of fresh air, and their clothing and collaborations with brands such as Beyond Yoga and It Is Well L.A. offer fun outfits to move in.

Guide to New York City Part IV: TriBeCa

During my first year living in New York, I rarely visited Tribeca. I knew it was largely residential, with many luxury apartments as well as families. I also knew that it used to be an industrial wasteland–an unattractive and undesirable area of the city. This changed, however, in large part due to Robert De Niro, the incredibly talented polymath who invested in Tribeca property and subsequently transformed the area into a trendy, hip, and bustling neighborhood. I am not too well-versed on the subject, but if I am not mistaken, I believe that his restaurant, Nobu, helped attract an A-list crowd, which thus contributed to Tribeca’s glamorous makeover. My family and I had the privilege of staying here prior to my move back home for the summer. I discovered just how fun Tribeca was and how much more there was to explore. Bits and pieces revealed themselves to me during the year, when I met my brother for dinner, or enjoyed the final day of the Tribeca Film Festival (which just entailed viewing a bunch if movies at a nice movie theatre near Battery Park–not what I expected, but fun nonetheless). Staying here, however, elucidated Tribeca’s fun character, one I believed to be nonexistent, or at least banal in comparison to other neighborhoods such as the East Village or the Lower East Side. Once again, New York proved me utterly and completely wrong.

The Greenwich Hotel: Robert De Niro’s charming, cozy, and delightfully fancy hotel in Tribeca, complete with funky art, a lovely courtyard, a delicious restaurant, and impeccable design. The hotel room doors are wooden with a large knob in the center, and rooms house old books and vintage cameras. Details like these make the hotel so special! The staff is really friendly as well.

Locanda Verde: delicious rustic Italian restaurant at the Greenwich Hotel. Super fun and happening!

Tiny’s: a truly tiny restaurant that is at once intimate, romantic, refined, and delicious. Their thoughtful, well-composed menu contains ample mouth-watering options.

The Greek: probably one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The Greek serves authentic Greek food with a focus on seasonal, local, and organic ingredients. They have an outstanding natural wine list, and most of the staff are in fact Greek!

Two Hands: though I have not been to their Tribeca location, I have been to their Nolita one, and it was delicious! This healthy aussie café serves up some delicious food with plenty of options for those with any dietary restrictions or those looking for a meal a little more on the healthy side.

Guide to New York City Part III: West Village & Greenwich Village

To be completely honest, I am unsure as to where the West Village ends and Greenwich Village begins. I have a general idea of the area each neighborhood inhabits, but the exact locations and the precise boundaries will likely always remain blurred in my mind. These neighborhoods, to me, do not possess a history that stretches as far back as the East Village and the Lower East Side, for instance, where old tenements and family-run businesses contribute to their unique character–one marked by the stories of the immigrants who moved here long ago, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. That is not to say that the West Village and Greenwich Village are any less special, however, for they possess their own idiosyncrasies. Their history, too, is rich: one may think of the Stonewall riots of 1969, or perhaps the lively music scene, or the tendency of aspiring artists–poets, authors, painters, etc.–to gravitate towards this eclectic area of the city. Indeed, these villages harbor a different narrative, but one that is nonetheless rich with culture and art, as well as the ethos of self-expression and acceptance.

Via Carota : a no reservations spot that is at once rustic, refined, lively, and delicious. Expect to wait, but it is definitely worth it!

Buvette: very French and very delicious. A petit gem owned by Jody Williams, who also helped found Via Carota, along with her partner, Rita Sodi.

Cap Beauty: a beautiful all-natural, non-toxic beauty shop with a friendly staff. They also offer wonderful facials and other treatments at their spa!

Barre3: an amazing exercise studio in the West Village. I love Barre3, and being able to practice at this studio was fun, fulfilling, stress-relieving, and provided a much-needed sweat! Be sure to check out their merchandise selection as well as other products such as candles and skin stuff.

Culture: a delicious frozen yogurt shop that focuses on high-quality ingredients and milk from local New York cows.

Loring Place: a trendy spot that focuses on fresh, seasonal, high-quality ingredients. The chef is an abc kitchen alum, so you know it is good and somewhat healthyish.

Clover Grocery: a wellness mecca that provides healthy snacks, condiments, supplements, skin care products, and more. They also have a smoothie/juice bar, though I have yet to try it.

Hemp Garden: they have several locations throughout the city, but I have only been to the one on Cornelia Street. They provide a vast selection of all natural products–creams, lotions, tinctures, gummies, bars, etc.–with the benefits of hemp and/or CBD. The staff is really friendly as well.

Goods for the Study: the BEST shop for all things paper/school/office/writing related, including pencils, pens, notebooks, folders, notepads, and more!

Pink Olive: such a fun shop for gifts and other little treasures such as fun cards, prints, books, notebooks, and so much more. Rifle Paper Co. is a common theme.

Wallflower: a tiny, romantic, chic, and charming restaurant with a small but delicious menu. The perfect place for an amazing meal in an intimate setting.

Guide to New York City Part II: Lower East Side

The easternmost side of New York holds a special place in my heart, as, living in the East Village, it was the area with which I grew the most familiar. This certainly does not mean that I have experienced all that the East Village and Lower East Side have to offer; in fact, I have only grown more aware of just how rich the city is, developing a thrilling sense of ignorant naïveté each time I stumble upon something new, such as a quaint café, a stunning townhouse, or an ancient familial deli, just to name a few. The more I realize how ignorant I am, the more deeply I fall in love with New York. It truly is a cultural treasure chest, possessing infinite gems–some of which have already been discovered, others patiently waiting. Below is a (incredibly brief) guide to LES, at least, the LES I have experienced thus far, as I hope there will be plenty more discoveries to come.

Dimes: a quaint, small, intimate, and healthyish restaurant. They also have a market and deli, which I have not frequented, but they seem just as lovely.

The Fat Radish: a veggie-forward, hip restaurant with a lively vibe.

Ice & Vice: an amazing little ice cream shop with inventive flavors (with seasonal specials) and cones (I had the koala chip– eucalyptus ice cream with black pepper and chocolate chips–on a blue corn cone).

The Ludlow: a chic, hip, and comfortable hotel with rustic and charming elements (think animal skin rugs, leather furniture, funky metallic light fixtures, and gold faucets).

Good Thanks: the cutest Aussie café with beautifully presented, delicious food and a friendly Australian staff.

As I said, this list is extremely brief. I hope to spend more time in the Lower East Side and continue to explore this brilliantly old, idiosyncratic neighborhood of the city.

Guide to New York City Part I: East Village

Spending my first year of college in New York City was intriguing to say the least. It was such a gift to possess the freedom to wander around various neighborhoods–the East Village being the most frequently visited due to the fact that I lived there. As one begins to know New York more intimately, one also starts to realize the immensity of what there is to know and discover. The city seems to hide countless gems–whether it be parks, side streets, restaurants, boutiques, and the like–upon which one stumbles periodically only to be reminded of just how rich the city is. New York is not defined by Wall Street or Times Square, but rather, at least in my opinion, by its neighborhoods and the unique cultural and historical elements each one possesses. This is what renders New York a magical place, however cliché that may sound. Below is listed some of the special places I have found in the East Village which embody New York’s spirit, whether they were discovered serendipitously or via previous research, each place adds to the city’s character, serving as reminders of its unique richness and depth. Other areas of the city will follow…

East Village

Hearth-a lovely, bustling restaurant with a focus on clean and local food

East Village Organic-a grocery store with, yes, organic produce and goods, an organic smoothie/juice bar, and a friendly staff

Cloak & Dagger-a chic boutique with a well-curated collection of 60’s- and 70’s inspired clothes, as well as unique jewelry, various styles of sunglasses, wondrously feminine dresses, among other fun finds

The Standard-a stylish hotel with spectacular views, funky décor, a fun bar, a delicious café and restaurant, and an unbeatable location

Pylos-an absolutely delicious Greek restaurant; tiny, elegant, and perfect

Narcissa-The Standard’s restaurant serving up a seasonal menu of delicious food in a trendy setting

Union Square Greenmarket-not technically the East Village but close enough, a bustling, year-round farmers’ market with a wide selection of produce, meats (even ostrich!), and other awesome finds

Yoga to the People-a donation-based yoga studio in an old building on St. Marks; their ethos is all about focusing within, so it is a non-competitive, very accepting space to practice yoga