Hey there,
This morning the windows are streaked with rain, a dull incessant thunder is my soundtrack, tree leaves are dancing with the wind, and Iâm on my second cup of coffee. The humidity is outrageous outside, but if I just stay inside and stare out the window, I can pretend itâs a beautifully cool, wet morning.
In our main living space it looks like weâre moving, but in reality weâre decluttering. During Mondayâs symposium I told the kids of this weekâs mission â to get rid of everything in your room you no longer love or use â so now itâs a bit mayhem. (An hour after that symposium, I overheard my middle kid joking on the phone with Kyle: hey Dad, help â Momâs forcing us to become minimalists.)

5 Quick Things âď¸
1. đ New episode of A Drink With a Friend! đ We adults need to play, yet some of us (đââď¸) frequently forget how. Play benefits our health in all sorts of ways, but itâs also just âŚfun. Being a real, responsible adult doesnât mean taking everything seriously. Letâs play more! Seth & I chat about what this looks like for us.
2. Why do people look so serious in old photos? Iâve heard most of the explanations (slow camera exposure, bad teeth, etc.) but this actually makes some sense. (Time)
3. âFrog and Toad stories involve the two titular characters overcoming common problems which arise from vice. ...In each story, the only way to beat vice is through some form of suffering. Good things do not happen in Frog and Toad stories apart from suffering, self-denial, or self-control.â Gosh, now I love these amphibians even more.
4. Making art as a form of escape from Guantånamo... What amazing artwork; what a haunting story. (NYT)
5. And finallyâŚÂ What a stunning, way-too-short video of sheep (really).
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening đ
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life, by George Saunders
Quotable đŹ
âIt is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.â
âAristotle*Â #
(*though not literally; itâs a summary of his thoughts from Nichomachean Ethics, but whatever)
From inside The Commonplace đĄ
This week I shared with you a small but steady thing weâve done in our family over the years, and itâs been genuinely helpful at adding scaffolding to our time:
âOur kids are used to symposia by now so they know what I mean when I call out, âSymposium in 15 minutes!â They know to be ready with whatever they want to bring â a cup of tea, a bowl of granola, a piece of cardboard to cut out for a project while they listen â and to be in the living room at that time.â
If youâre a subscriber, head here to read the rest. (And thank you for your support!)
Elsewhere đ
Question For You to Ponder⌠đ¤
If youâre making a big decision right now, ask: When Iâm looking back on my life from my deathbed, which one of these options will I regret not doing the most?*
(*HT to Neil Pasricha for this one)
Have a good weekend!
xo, Tsh
p.s. Are you sucked into The Chosen as well? The last episode of season 2 airs this Sunday đ˘ â but if you havenât watched it yet, youâre in for a bingeable treat.
Love the sheep video!
I love The Chosen. I havenât started season 2 yet. I had tried to turn my sister-in-law on to it last year and she never watched it. So she and I watch together via FaceTime, back to season 1.