5 Quick Things #289 ☀️

real fiction, zero FOMO, phone detox, & free speech

Jun 16, 2023

Hey there,

As you’re reading this I’m smack in the middle of a two-day marathon of teacher meetings, so I’ll keep this intro short and get to the bulk of why you’re reading this anyway.

I hope you’ve had a good week! All is well on my homefront, except that summer DEFINITELY whooshed in this past week here in central Texas. Holy outdoor-sauna humidity with highs of 106, Batman. ☠️

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! Stories (the good ones, anyway) tell us more than an entertaining tale—they tell us why the world is the way it is, as well as the way it should be. In this way, fiction is often more real than non-fiction. Everyone should read fiction, especially folks who want to know how the world works and how we're called to make it better. Seth & I unpack why good stories do just that.
2. Zero FOMO, better time management, deeper clarity about my work, increased mental and physical health… I can probably think of about ten other benefits I’ve experienced. Earlier this week I shared with paying subscribers my answers to your FAQs about my being off Instagram for almost a year now. I’ve now made it available for all to read, so enjoy + share! (Spoiler: I don’t miss IG at all.)
3. If you still need more convincing (and I’m not here to tell you what to do! Pinky-swear!), Commonplace reader Annelise Roberts shared an essay of hers in the comments, and it is so spot-on it deserves more eyeballs on her words. “Why on earth am I relying on this system to validate my existence?” PREACH. IT.
4. I’m actually doing a digital detox from mid-June (whenever my cheap flip phone arrives in the mail) to mid-July (when we leave for Ireland). Ruth Gaskovski has been leading people through a 30-day detox in her own newsletter, and reading Digital Minimalism years ago + my episode with Autumn Kern + Ruth’s leading has inspired me to finally do a test-run on a dumb phone. I’ll report here about the experience soon!
5. And finally, Rowan Atkinson, of all people, says the quiet part out loud about the importance of free speech.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My new Summer Chill 2023 playlist

Quotable 💬

“The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.”

— G.K. Chesterton #

What's your favorite summertime sound? 🐦

I love this question because it's one of my favorite things to think of, but I also hate it because I’m forced to choose. I think I'll go with crickets at night, because it's just so iconically summer.

Find this week’s poll here.

Quick Links 🔗

📐Create your own Rule of Life
🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend
📔 Releasing August 29, 2023: First Light & Eventide

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s one form of noise you could eliminate from your life?

Have a good one,

- Tsh

p.s. C’mon, Benedick.