5 Quick Things #252 ☕️
wanting, leaving, aging, and living
Hello!
I’m writing this email a little later in the morning than usual because I went to bed well after midnight last night 👵 — two of my kids and I went to see Hadestown in downtown Austin and were blown away by the sheer talent all those people on stage have in their individual pinky fingers. It was such a fantastic show! 10/10, would recommend if you ever have the chance.
But yes, this means that this morning’s a three-cup-o-coffee sort, tonight’s an early bedtime, and I may be a bit on the slow side when it comes to checking things off on today’s to-do list. Totally worth it.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. ICYMI, I shared how I came to the conclusion to no longer be on Instagram. I have total peace about the decision (and feel even better about it, now that I’ve officially posted my farewell on the ‘gram), and look forward to moving on with my brain cells. (If you need more thoughts on this idea, head here, here, here, and here.)
2. Why do we want what we want? Such a simple question, but it’s got a surprisingly complicated answer. I’ve been nerding out on this idea of “mimetic desire,” first coined by René Girard but explained for normal folks like me through Luke Burgis’ work — here’s a 101. We all need to be more aware of this. (Related: I also think this is partially why I was on IG for much longer than I wanted to be.)
3. “If the world is actually getting safer, why are parents getting more protective and anxious about their kids? Why do a majority of parents, as Pew has shown, favor a degree of intervention in their kids’ lives that when I was a kid in the 1980s and 90s would have seemed insane?” Raising free-range kids has long been a soapbox of mine, ever since I first read Last Child in the Woods when we lived in Turkey. This piece reminds me of its necessity.
4. I appreciate a good list, and my friend Claire’s recent list of life lessons in honor of her birthday had me nodding. Number 28 is weirdly accurate, and it takes no time at all for near-instant gratification.
5. And finally, here’s 50 old-fashioned insults in case you needed to add more to your arsenal. I’ve got a clack-box, a duke of limbs, and an afternoon farmer for offspring. (But I’ve also got to watch my own tendency to be a word-grubber...)
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚
The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd (thanks to reader recommendations!)
Quotable 💬
“We do not receive a short life but we make it a short one, and we are not poor in days, but we are wasteful of them. …Life is long enough, if you know how to use it.”
— Seneca #
What are you most likely to do? 🍌
“All the above,” if you’re like me. But overall, I’m with the majority.
Find this week’s poll here.
Quick Links 🔗
Become a paying subscriber of The Commonplace (and thank you!)
Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔
What nagging but small task could you finally cross off your to-do list today?
Have a good weekend,
Tsh
p.s. Mind blown. 🤯
Ha! Spoiler alert: I voted that cereal is not a soup by my teenagers say it definitely is!