5 Quick Things #193 🌤
work way over there, learn a language, & travel for your brain
Hello friends,
This will be a quick-ish letter because my book edits are due by the end of today, so I gotta get right back to them. Still… How are you?
I admittedly don’t know much about what’s going on out here **gestures broadly** these days because my head has been uber-immersed on my work. Regardless — the coffee is hot, the dog is cute, there’s a stack of books on my nightstand, and I’m here for another day. Things are alright.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. 👉 New episode of A Drink With a Friend! 👈 It’s a good thing to have disagreements, but we often forget to have a learner’s posture when we hear the “other side.” Are we surrounding ourselves only with sources and ThoughtLeaders™ that confirm our already-held biases? Or are we willing to genuinely learn? Seth and I lean into Chesterton’s insight from almost a century ago (scroll down for it).
2. It’s a natural fact of life, but it’s still interesting to see it visually.
3. We all know travel is good for our souls, but did you know it can also rewire your brain? So many of us are itching to get the heck outta dodge… Here are more good reasons to travel.
4. On separating our jobs and home: “Professional authors are, in some sense, the original work-from-home knowledge workers. As we approach a post-pandemic world in which telecommuting will be more common, we might observe with concern how far these writers are willing to go to escape having to work in their actual homes.” I feel this deeply.
5. And finally… If you’ve subscribed to The Commonplace, don’t miss my latest installment of The WRLD at Home! Yep, I dusted it off and it’ll be returning as a regular. And in this one, I cannot stop thinking about those videos I included.
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻
my new Summer 2021 playlist, which I’ll add to ad-hoc for season
Quotable 💬
“People generally quarrel because they cannot argue. And it is extraordinary to notice how few people in the modern world can argue. This is why there are so many quarrels, breaking out again and again, and never coming to any natural end.”
― GK Chesterton #
Outside is Good, Y’all 🎒
My friend (and former managing editor of AoS!) Andrea Debbink has just released her latest book, and it is so good and so perfect for this summer season. Maybe The Wild World Handbook was written with a middle-grade audience in mind, but maybe I’ve been immersed in it myself as a grown-up…? 🤷♀️ it’s a visual delight and chock-full of wisdom. I’m in love.
This first installment (there will be a series!) is Habitats, and it’s packed with stories of conservationists and historic nature lovers, facts about different places around the world, creative ideas for hands-on projects, and possibly most important — practical ways our kids can get involved in making their own habitats better.
If you’ve got a kiddo who loves the outdoors — or perhaps you want them to love the outdoors — this new book is right up your alley. And if you are that kid, well, it’s for you, too. I’m right there with you.
p.s. Subscribe to Andrea’s monthly newsletter as well — it’s one of my regular must-reads.
(Quirk Books has sponsored this week’s newsletter, but I 100% adore this book with my very own opinions. Interested in sponsoring an issue of 5 Quick Things? Contact caroline@tshoxenreider.com.)
Question For You to Ponder… 🤔
Who brings out the best in you? How can you connect with them this next week?
Have a good weekend!
xo, Tsh
p.s. ICYMI, my book At Home in the World is still $1.99 for Kindle! No idea how long that price will last so snag it for some good armchair traveling this summer. And hey, pass the word along to a friend you think might like the book, too — and thanks!