Hello, friend! What have you been up to this week? How are you doing? Yesterday was my last day at my job, and I’m excited to start at my new opportunity on Monday!
Last weekend, I sifted through old photos and news paper clippings of my grandmother’s family with my mom. In addition to childhood pictures and a film reel later narrated by my late grandmother and her brother, there were also lovely engagement announcements and lengthy obituaries. It’s incredible to capture a glimpse into family history. In just a few hours, I learned that about the fatal “blue heart disease” in infants, that my grandmother was the youngest passenger to fly the Graf Zeppelin, that a boy who bullied her went on to take JFK’s senate seat when JFK was elected president, and that she and her mother would sneak her father’s visiting German colleagues across border into Canada because Niagara Falls was nicer on that side. I am so grateful that these records still exist!
What are your plans for the week ahead? I’ll be helping my mom create a listing to re-home the adorable little foster kitties. It’s impossible to capture pictures because mama cat will come snuggle when you squat down to take a picture, and baby is a black flash in the pictures because he’s always on the move. I hoping we can find them both loving forever homes.
I hope that your the week ahead is good to you. Here are a few links from around the web. Feel free to share anything interesting you’ve stumbled upon in the comments.
- Food for thought: “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” – Marcus Aurelius
- A chance to laugh: The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards never fail to bring a smile to my face. If you, like me, appreciate goofy and derpy animals,enjoy! It’s hard to pick favorites, but check out this, this, and this.
- Chin up: “We had no smart phones. We turned on the tv. It was something like 10:30 in the morning in New York. Brian’s mother called to tell us that Todd had been on Flight 93.” Another perspective on 9/11 and its aftermath.
- Buy now, pay later: Millennials and Gen Z Are Hooked on a $46 Billion Shopping App. Let’s call a spade a spade. BNPL is yet another scheme that saddles even more debt onto an already burdened young generation. We really need to stop making everything a subscription or monthly payment because it teaches the wrong sort of mentality when it comes to finances.The primary target of these programs are younger people because they can’t afford anything and the problem goes deeper than just telling them “You should save money”.
- Write something: “There’s no such thing as writer’s block. There’s simply a fear of bad writing. Do enough bad writing and some good writing is bound to show up.” From Seth Godin.
- Liberty-minded parenting: “Our children are among the most intelligent and most capable anywhere on earth, if only we provide them with the educational means to thrive. If we succeed, and we will, they will grow into a people who are educated, strong, and resilient while those children left to public education, masks and all the fear they instill in a child, and Marxist race doctrine will flounder as adults, lack emotional intelligence, and be entirely dependent upon government for all things.” From CulturalHusbandry. What actions could you take or cause could you support in your lifetime to ensure freedom and opportunity for future generations? Vote, volunteer, educate, etc.; it’s our responsibility as global citizens.
- Questions for technology: Interesting thoughts from Austin Kleon. “One thing I will say about these lists: they are written as a way of fortune and future-telling and anticipating what a technology might do. But you often don’t know the answers to a lot of the questions until you adopt the technology.”
- Habits vs. goals: “Goals can provide direction and even push you forward in the short-term, but eventually a well-designed system will always win. Having a system is what matters. Committing to the process is what makes the difference.” I stumble across this excerpt from James Clear every few years, and always appreciate the reminder that systems trump goals.
- Tiny life tip: Marry someone you’d be happy with even if you were poor.
existential ergonomics 
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