Every Friday, I share 5 things to consider and a treasure chest of links. If you like them, please subscribe (it’s free).
GM! ☕️
Here are this week’s 5 things to consider:
1. Downshift
Starting next Friday for four weeks, I will send a shorter newsletter. I will still be in your inbox each Friday, but just for a tasty snack (not a five-course meal). The newsletter will resume full, helping friendly strength on May 6. During this time, I invite you to join me for a downshift—and create a little space for rest, regeneration, and discovery.
2. Memento mori
I loved this video of Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins performing Queen’s “Somebody to Love” shortly before his death.1 Rachel Held Evans’s final writings, published posthumously as Wholehearted Faith, evoked similar feelings in me last year. Both were busy making generous offerings just before they unexpectedly died. They remind me that our actions, our work, our words, our love…these are our testimonies and our legacies. There is only now, friends. To reflect more on this, memento mori and try writing your own obituary.
3. Solitude and quiet
For Emily Dickinson, solitude was both fertile creative ground and feminist act. By claiming quiet spaces to explore her inner life, Dickinson pushed back against expectations for women in her time. This has me thinking about how quiet and solitude are tools of resistance in our time—especially against an economy that commoditizes our attention. By slowing down and creating space for reflection, might we gain some freedom?
Related: “Quiet teaches a new kind of listening.”
4. Break free from meetings
Org design firm The Ready outlined 9 common causes of meeting overload. Which are relevant for you and your team? Chances are, you’re dealing with multiple factors from this list + a few more that are unique to your situation. It’s usually complicated, but don’t despair. Pick the most obvious challenge, start there, and build. (BTW, this can help you claim more space for solitude and quiet.☝🏼)
5. Tiny book reviews
See my ratings and tiny reviews for these titles.
Thank you for reading
This newsletter is a labor of love. 💌 If you want to show your support, you can share this post, venmo me a coffee, engage my services, or buy a book from my links. (I earn a small commission from Bookshop and Amazon.)
Treasure chest
I bet you find a gem ➔ searching for the sacred on a planet in crisis | building utopia design toolkit2 | ok, doomer | burnout is about your workplace, not your people | listening to this song reduces anxiety by 65 percent3 | spot something that seems out of place | the last glimpses of Cali’s vanishing hippie utopias4 | la biblioteca is a doula | thoughts i had during my failed attempts to enjoy nature | peace out, y’all👇🏼
Have a great weekend! I’ll see you again soon.
Jenny
Via my husband AJ. 💞
Via Priya Parker.
Via friend and reader MM.