Hi all. It has certainly been a while since I’ve been here. I took two online classes just as our fall semester at work kicked off. The classes were a real pleasure but it left me with little time. I also realized I hadn’t turned writing this newsletter into a Friday evening/Saturday morning habit yet as I had planned.
So, as I start trying to build this habit, I thought I’d just do a quick check in to see how you’re all doing. I was on a panel yesterday afternoon as a part of a big virtual summit at work. One of my co-panelists talked about how his team reached out to students and asked how they were. I think we all ask that question, but I know I for one am sometimes afraid that people will tell me how they are doing. It’s not that I don’t want to know. It’s that I don’t know how I will handle the emotional weight of not being able to help them. However, what I realize in Covid times is that we all just need to let it out. We need to say that we’re sad, scared, depressed, bored, overworked, anxious, overeating, and all the other things you’re feeling that I haven’t included in my list.
I’ve talked a good game for a long time about really wanting to “declassify” mental health and yet it’s still an area where I don’t walk the walk consistently. My friend Beth posted this on Facebook earlier today and I just happened to see it before I hit send so I thought I would include it. I might make a note of my color each day for the next month just to see how I’m doing.
How could you offer someone a supportive ear even if you know you can’t solve what they are going through? Do you need someone to listen? I’m here for you.
A quote and a note
I’ve always been a collector of quotes. I want to share them. I’ll add a brief note to each one.
"The argument of this book is that your “personality” doesn’t matter. Even more, your personality is not the most fundamental aspect of who you are. Instead, your personality is surface-level, transitory, and a by-product of something much deeper. " - Benjamin Hardy
I recently read Hardy’s book, Personality Isn’t Permanent. It was quite good. While I love personality tests, I also have come to see them as tools to learn about your strengths, opportunities, and blind spots so that you can decide how you want to learn, grow, and improve.
This quote popped up in Readwise this week. Readwise continues to be one of my favorite tools.
A tool and a tip
I love technology. Lately though I’ve been thinking about how I need to make sure that my technology defaults are things that actually make my life better and easier. I’ll use this section to share a tool and a tip with you.
Readwise Android App
I share a quote from Readwise in every edition of the Newsletter. I have come to truly love Readwise. I made a quite video walk through of the app for Android right after it came out. Take a look.
I’m really interested in creating more YouTube videos. It has been fun to play around with video editing - a skill I’ve told myself I needed to learn for years. What would you like to learn about? What do you watch videos about on YouTube?
A Little Gratitude
I “closed” the patio today. I’ve truly loved having this additional 160 square feet of outdoor space that I added on in 2019 - before I knew how wonderful it would be in 2020. It houses my grill and cozy outdoor sofa and rocking chair. In 2020, I added an umbrella so I could get a little more use out of it during the day while I’ve been working from home.
As part of my winterizing, I cut down my tomato plants which have been such a source of joy this year. They yielded enough final tomatoes that I’ll combine them with some of the basil that’s doing beautifully indoors this year for a small Caprese salad. I purposefully turned a few of the less pretty tomatoes under the soil before I cleaned up the plants so hopefully I’ll have loads of volunteer plants next year.
About subscribing
As I build this newsletter community, I’m offering free subscriptions to nearly anyone so if you want to subscribe, now is the time to do so. If you see a link on social media, it’s very likely a free subscription link. I welcome you sharing the link too so that we can build a community of people who want to help one another get better and and live a more authentic life each and every day. Once I know I can stick to this habit and build something I think people may find valuable, I may start to charge. At that time, you’ll want to already be subscribed for free for life so subscribe now.