Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and your Sunday Scaries are minimal as we head into a new week in the New Year!
My lamb stew plan got thwarted by COVID poppin off, so paid subscribers, stay tuned. Everyone else, stay safe, stay hydrated, stay well!
I had the last two weeks off of work, I had plans to be so productive. Oops. I’m grateful for the rest, for the mundane little routines, for bonding with my family and catching up with friends.
I’m excited for another year of Five Things, and I hope you are too! If you want to support the newsletter, you can become a paid subscriber below, or share this with a friend.
This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter. I hope today is beautiful for you.
Number One: Using change at self checkout
I could be having just the worst kind of day - nothing going my way, and then insert some coins at self checkout, and ever so momentarily, there is bliss.
There probably is some broader commentary to be had about how self check out is interfering with our ability to have even the most benign of human interactions. Some meta-narrative that this all symbolic of the fall of civilization.
All of that washes away when I am buying my eggs, tortillas, a single avocado, and I recall that earlier in the week I used a ten dollar bill to buy a coffee. The little, yellowing Athleta pouch I use keep gift cards and change gets pulled out, and I feel a true sense of thrift. There’s this sort of “I just saved 17 cents,” even though it is spending in the most literal way.
If I had to come up with my top ten favorite feelings in the world, using change at self checkout would easily be one of them.
Number Two: Downward Dog // a word for the year
Maybe like five years ago Lululemon did some social media challenge to do a five minute long downward facing dog. To me, it’s the pose that feels like a challenge at the beginning of the class, and a sweet relief at the end. I’ve done it every year during the first week of the year since. The first minute is boring, the second kind of taxing, and then it just feels really nice.
I don’t always have a word or theme or big goal for the year. Sometimes those things capture me, sometimes they don’t. But as I’ve been thinking about what I want out of the new year, I’ve settled on settling in. I want my house to feel more like a home. I want to excel at my job. I want to invest in rich friendships. I want to be more of me.
I want this next year to be like downward dog towards the end of the yoga class. I know this, I’m comfortable here, I am strong. My core is tight, my shoulders are back, heels just off the ground.
Number Three: OV x YMCA
Thank you to my friends (Rachel) who tipped me off to the Outdoor Voices and YMCA collaboration. Thank you to my friends who did not tip me off because you assumed I already knew. I bought the socks. I just couldn’t justify the price for a yellow sweatshirt. Still cute though! And I might later!
Number Four: 14 Peaks and The Alpinist
The rule with rock climbing documentaries is this: you can’t google before you watch. But if I have a favorite genre of movie, it’s watching people be crazy on rocks.
14 Peaks (Netflix) is great if you want to watch rock climbers be a little crazy and also grow in appreciation for Nepalese culture and people. Very uplifting, you will feel like you can do A N Y T H I N G. Also maybe climbing Everest isn’t that impressive? Kinda seems like they just escalator you to the top if you do the guided climbing, which most Westerners do - not really, I still would never, but makes you judge some people.
The Alpinist (Netflix) is great if you want to watch rock climbers be more than a little crazy and want to think Alex Honnold is only medium impressive.
Number Five: My friends
Last Sunday my friend Makenzie drove to my house to move the trash bins out, and then on Monday Morgan drove to my house to move the trash bins back in. The Sunday before, Andrew drove over twice to let Honey out because this was before we discovered this dog can go 24 hours without peeing (not that we want this to happen, the girl was just on a strike on the way to Colorado, she’s fine now).
While I was texting Morgan about the trash situation I was reflecting on the fact that this is all exactly what I prayed for. Four years ago I moved to Kansas City with like three acquaintances, and finding Friday night plans was a huge challenge, let alone finding someone to do me a wacky favor over a holiday weekend.
Which I write to say this: maybe you’re in the season where leaving work on Friday feels sad, and you just want to go to a movie with another person, but it all feels like too big of an ask. Keep showing up. Keep embracing awkward situations. Keep being the friend to others that you need yourself. Keep bending God’s ear. And four years later, just maybe, a friend will move your trash for you.
I need your suggestions for a January book. Something medium fun.