Things I'm Loving (v.23)
Things to get us through dark times: including dancing, understanding politics in community and joyful handcrafted miniatures.
Welcome back, everyone!
I hope your holidays were smooth and that you’re finding ways to connect and recharge despite all the troubling things happening in the world.
For my part, the end-of-year holidays were truncated when my brother-in-law died unexpectedly the day after Christmas. It’s impacted my sister and nieces more than me, and, seeing someone my own age suddenly dead by a health-related surprise was sobering in its own right.
In the midst of this, I’ve shuffled along with little sparkles of joy and delight, as well as a hefty dose of loved ones to keep me going. And with that, here are three things I’m loving right now that are getting me through the days.
Something to bring joy
Okay, so I know we’ve had Richard Simmons here before, but this particular song is worth clicking through to, if you’re of a certain age (and definitely if you’re of that age and from the USA).
My friend in Ohio and I started back up with our FaceTime Richard Simmons mornings, and it’s a bit of a wheel of fortune sort of roll of the dice to see which Richard Simmons video we do. This was one of our more recent ones, and neither of us could make it through this song without laughing.
Our process is simple: at 9 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we FT and do 15-20 min of a video (mostly) together, synced up as best as possible. Having someone to do the video with makes it more fun and more likely that I’ll actually take action. Since uncovering this song, I’ve gone back to it several times on my own, just for the laughter (and endorphins!).
Something to cut through the noise
If you’re following along with any of Trump and Musk’s shenanigans, you know that the onslaught of updates is even worse than last time, both in frequency and in impact. And, that it’s really challenging to discern what’s important to pay attention to, what’s actually happening, and to avoid doomscrolling.
One way I’ve managed to short circuit this is through my friend Avril Korman’s Street Politics group - it’s informative, succinct, and hopeful.
As my friend Sara Mastros described in her most recent newsletter,
“Avril grew up enmeshed in the trenches of NYC democratic politics; she really understands all the gritty, shady reality of how politics works, and is great at explaining it. Avril is who I most trust to stay on top of all the terrible, dig through all the noise, and know what’s important and what’s theatrics to keep plebs like me distracted.
She has a weekly livestream, and moderates a community of smart, educated people…discussing politics, called ‘Street Politics’.”
At $5/month to subscribe, it’s a steal and well-worth the price of admission.
Something to delight you
Lastly, these hand-crafted dollhouse miniatures are absolutely delighting me.
Facebook pushed several groups to my feed (I have no idea how) and I am not mad about it. I love seeing people’s resourcefulness with everyday items that many folks just toss into the bin.
Although I haven’t jumped in myself (yet, hahahahaha), I did find several additional groups and pages to follow so that these gems jump into my feed more often.
It’s a short one this week, folks! Next time we’ll be back to our normal 4-5.
In the meantime, as always, if you find something you’re loving, let me know so I can check it out!
~M