Anyone else buckling under the weight of a massive to-do list? I feel like I am working three full-time jobs–my actual full-time job (I’m an advertising copywriter), motherhood (which is particularly challenging this time of year with school closed for SEVENTEEN DAYS, but who’s counting?), and Holiday Project Coordinator (a job which is not only unpaid but also costs an absurd amount of money). I do not have to travel, so that is a win. Whatever your holiday plans, I hope they involve SOME relaxation.
Quote of the week:
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” ― Pema Chödrön
What I’m reading:
I read my very first Agatha Christie book this past week—Hercule Poirot’s Christmas. My book club selected it and I was apprehensive at first because I don’t gravitate to mysteries, generally. But it was really enjoyable. I may have to try more of her books. I’m now reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. Been a while since I read a Murakami book.
What I’m listening to:
I just finished The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and loved it. The narration is fantastic. I’m now listening to Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence by Kristen Ghodsee.
What I’m watching:
I finished Bad Surgeon and am now onto another docuseries about people doing crazy things—Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God. I have one episode left. I find cults so fascinating in that can’t-turn-from-the-trainwreck way.
Interesting things I learned this week:
- The average age in the United States for no longer believing in Santa Claus is 8.4 years old
- Pope Francis approved blessings for same-sex couples (though he specified that these cannot be marriage blessings….. meh)
- Americans spend an average of $430 billion on retail during December, at least $69 billion more than in any other month
- New research has revealed that women hunted in 80% of foraging societies. Researchers even found that women may have rivaled males when it came to taking down big game (read more here)
- As of 2018, Guinness World Records listed Agatha Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred other foreign languages. She is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare
- Chimpanzees and bonobos can recall faces of other apes that they have not seen for years, a study suggests. One bonobo recognized a face after 26 years, a record for nonhuman species
- Women were more than 4 times as likely as men to say they don’t work because their partner doesn’t want them to, according to a PEW Research Center study
- Women weren’t allowed to be included in clinical trials until 1986, and it wasn’t until 1993 that it became federally required to include women and people of color in clinical trials
- In a 1957 survey from the University of Michigan, 80% of those surveyed thought that people who chose not to marry were sick, immoral, or neurotic
- More than 1/3 of today’s divorces are people over the age of 50
- USA Today has hired a full-time Taylor Swift reporter (his name is Bryan West)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Oldest living person.” My daughter has been talking a lot about death since our dog died. She is very upset that he was “only 14.” I explained that humans tend to live much longer than animals and she asked who the oldest person alive was. That person is María Branyas Morera, who is 116 years old. The oldest verified person to have ever lived was Jeanne Louise Calment who was born in 1875 and died in 1997 at the age of 122. Wow.
What I’m grateful for:
- Health! So many viruses going around. I’m sure my turn is coming, but grateful to feel good for now
- Lots of fun stuff with my daughter. Before having her, I was a bit of a holiday Scrooge, but she’s helped me rediscover the magic
- A couple good rainstorms. See photos below. I love the rain here
- Christmas shopping complete! I think… I’m sure I forgot something
- Community. One of my big focuses for 2024 will be building more community—spending quality time with people I enjoy. I’ve been doing more of it lately with neighbors and mom-friends and it’s really uplifting
Snapshots:
