Quote of the week:
“There’s a point…when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.” –Ursula K. Le Guin
What I’m reading:
Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David
What I’m listening to:
The Push by Ashley Audrain
“Reframing Sensitivity” (podcast)
“Being a Highly Sensitive Person” (podcast)
“What Almost Dying Taught Me About Living” (Suleika Jaouad’s TED Talk)
What I’m watching:
Q: Into the Storm (docuseries about QAnon) — Just finished this. Wow.
Writing news:
Just your usual reminders this week!
- People Who Knew Me will be re-released on May 11
- No Hiding in Boise will release on June 15
- My sixth novel will come out in 2022–stay tuned for details!
What I’m talking about:
I’ve got a lot on my mind this week. Here are just some of the things:
- Ashley Audrain’s multimillion-dollar book deal for The Push. It’s a riveting book, but this type of advance is the problem with big publishing. Many authors can barely make a living because publishers put all their eggs into one chosen author’s basket. The goal with a big advance is to generate buzz. Publishers know the book will never earn back that much money. I could go on and on about this
- The origins of the QAnon movement and the identity of Q. Watching “Q: Into the Storm” on HBO was illuminating. Millions of people have become swept up in chaos likely generated by a geeky website administrator
- The ongoing efforts to understand the origins of Covid-19 (this is a good read)
- The anxiety of returning to “normal.” I’m not ready to socialize, people! (this is a good read)
- The value of child care. YES! All hail child care providers. This great article includes this quote: “‘We have never valued the work that goes into caring for our families — we’ve never accounted for it, we have made it invisible and have always taken for granted that women will shoulder the responsibility,’ said Ai-Jen Poo, senior adviser for the nonprofit Care in Action and an expert on the care economy. In fact, the whole industry ‘is still often referred to as ‘help’ as opposed to a ‘profession,’’ underscoring the overall perception that caring for children is not a job of any real value, she added.
- How the pandemic has exposed the need for major structural changes. This great piece includes this quote: “For me, the silver lining has been that for the first time, I’m seeing the beginnings of a real conversation about how to make lasting change. I’m seeing politicians speak about the paid and unpaid work women do, and the resources needed to support us. I’m seeing an acknowledgment of the racial and economic barriers holding us back. I’m seeing relief. And I’m seeing this as a moment to organize for even more.”
- The realities of postpartum depression and how we need to stop saying it’s “just hormones” (great read here)
- The “intersection of ambition and parenthood” (inspired by the below Tweet from @ashleysimpo). It’s hard to want to do so many things in this short, fragile life
Interesting things I learned this week:
- My husband and I took our daughter to pick strawberries this week and we learned that each strawberry has 200 seeds each and there are more than 600 varietals of strawberries
- Jon Batiste is Suleika’s Jaouad’s long-time partner. Ok, my discovery of this was very strange. I’ve been a fan of Jon Batiste since he starting playing music for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I decided to get his new album, We Are, and I LOVE it. Recently, I read Suleika Jaouad’s memoir. In it, she mentions a Jon in her life, but I didn’t think much of it. Then I stalked her on Instagram and saw photos of her with Jon Batiste and it all clicked–“THAT is the Jon in the book?!” I’m now even more enamored with both of them
- The World Economic Forum estimates it would take 267.6 years to close the world’s gender economic gap, while reaching gender equity in politics would take 145.5 years (read here). Insert long sigh
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
I didn’t do much googling this week. Another busy week. Most of my googling was researching various health conditions–not because I’m a hypochondriac (though I kind of am), but because most of my work clients are healthcare companies.
What I’m grateful for:
The aforementioned strawberry picking with my little family. I’m so grateful for them. If you’re in Orange County, I highly recommend Tanaka Farms.
