Happy middle of a long weekend!
I’m done with school! I’m done with school. It feels nice. Turns out I’m not that much less busy because I was busy to begin with. But now I’m busy with a good attitude and two forms to turn in before I graduate in May.
This weekend I’ve had so much energy to do the tasks I’ve been procrastinating which is an energy I love. But now I am quite tired and very much so looking forward to an early bedtime.
I left it all the court with school. You’ve never seen a star shine so bright as me in this presentation. And I’m so grateful to say that I’m proud of the work that I did, because the rest of the program was just sort of whatever the academic version of a shrug is.
I’m feeling itchy to get back into this newsletter which I am also grateful for. So paid subscribers, you’ll hear from me next week.
I wrote this sentence that contains a link to my instagram. My Nuuly referral link. My Outdoor Voices link.
Ok. So I took last week off and I have a lot of things this week, one thing I did love over the last two weeks was that one of the House of Representative clerks, she had a patriotic manicure that was on full display as she was taking roll for votes in the Speaker of the House race:
Number One: The Avett Brothers
I like to listen to The Avett Brothers during big weeks like the last week of grad school. Their music feels like home in that way. When I drove to Oregon for the first time I listened to “I and Love and You” as I pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot and out into what I knew would be a big summer. This past week I was especially taken by the song Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, and in particular this part.
When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn't change by the man that's elected
If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it
I’m still probably a little too Calvinist to jump fully on board with the total self-determination of that last line, but there’s something to it. And it felt apropos as I was willing myself to finish what I started. All of that in mind, I have decided that I am going to lean into my dream job of being an independently wealthy philanthropist. Albeit while keeping my day job, which is also a dream job. Neither of these jobs explicitly relies on my masters degree in marketing; except the main thing I learned in my course work is that if you say it with enough confidence, you can sell any idea, so in some sense they both do.
Number Two: I am now passionate about literacy
As my first act as an independently wealthy philanthropist, I went to a lunch and learn put on by Lead to Read this week. Lead to Read partners elementary aged students at underserved schools with reading mentors. It’s a cool organization, and if you’re in KC, I whole-heartedly recommend looking into becoming a mentor. It’s super easy. And you’ll never waste a minute of your life if you’re being a safe adult investing in the life of a young person.
In Kansas City, like a lot of cities, the landscape is BLEAK when it comes to post-pandemic learning loss. Only 20% of KCPS and charter school 3rd graders in KCMO on on target for reading. This has major implications for the future workforce, future rates of crime, etc etc etc. I can’t stop thinking about it and talking about it. We’ve gotta get silly about pushing back on this learning loss and reading to kids!
Two action items:
Read to and with a kid. Whether that’s through an official mentorship program or at your church or to your own kid or volunteer for an hour at a school and read. We need all hands on deck.
Thank a teacher. One of the big takeaways from this lunch for me is that educator attrition is exacerbating the issue - so tell a teacher in your life they’re doing a good job and it matters.
Number Three: Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta
This is a great pasta recipe, and you probably already have 60% or more of the ingredients in your pantry. Easy. Tasty. Boyfriend and brother-in-law approved.
Four people who ate this pasta and then went to a hockey game:
Number Four: M’Cheyne Podcast
One of my goals for 2023 is to listen to the M’Cheyne reading six out of seven days a week. This Bible reading plan takes you through the Old Testament once, and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year. It’s a heavy lift if you’re reading, in my experience, but an easy one if you’re listening. It’s not at my most ~engaged scripture time~ But it’s a helpful tool that feels a little like ~engaged scripture reading~ through osmosis.
Number Five: Stud Finder
I think that maybe I thought that using a stud finder to hang things in one’s home was for babies, so instead, I’ve been procrastinating hanging some things at my house for like seven months. My roommate, in kindness, made it a little joke about it this week. So in my productivity/decide what to be and go be it roll, I rolled to Home Depot and bought a stud finder. Game changer. Catch me out here confidently nailing things into the wall.