Quote of the week:
“Getting your heart broken is a privilege of being human” — Paula McLain, from When the Stars Go Dark
What I’m reading:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
What I’m listening to:
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley–just started! She’s one of my faves, so I’m excited to get into this one
Another episode of “We Can Do Hard Things”
What I’m watching:
“Mare of Easttown” (HBO)–started off slow, but now I’m into it (on episode 3)
I’ve also been watching some episodes of “This is Life with Lisa Ling” (one about psychedelics for medical use, another about illicit massage parlors)
Writing news:
A couple really cool things this week:
1. I can finally share that actor Pete Holmes is set to star in the film adaptation of Cherry Blossoms. You can read all about it here.
2. No Hiding in Boise is a July 2021 Indie Next Pick! Release day is June 15!
What I’m talking about:
- The lingering mental health effects of the pandemic (sobering read here)
- The remains of 215 children found at a former indigenous school site in Canada. These children would be elders now, passing on important traditions. In addition to their lives, their legacies were taken. It’s heartbreaking
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
What is the darkest place in the US? (Answer: The Cosmic Campground in New Mexico. The nearest artificial light source is more than 40 miles away).
Interesting things I learned this week:
- When electricity was first introduced to homes, people worried it would undermine family togetherness (because people would no longer need to gather around the hearth). In 1903, a psychologist expressed concern about young people losing connection to dusk and its contemplative moments (from Jenny Offill’s book, Weather). Moral of the story: Technology has always come with concerns
- There’s a species of moth in Madagascar that drinks the tears of sleeping birds (also learned in Offill’s book)
- Anachoresis means “retreat from the world into a solitary life”
What I’m grateful for:
Moments like this with my daughter that remind me that life is a beautiful as it is painful.
