5 Quick Things #293 ✍️
note-taking, strangers on the internet, confirmation mama, & monastic life with littles
Hello!
I’m smack-dab in the middle of a lot of school prep meetings, so I’ll need to keep this one on the short side. Earlier this week I enjoyed a delightful getaway with a few old girlfriends1, and we were kayaking out on the lake when we noticed the stickers on our boats that read, “Weight Limit: 100 lbs.” We inadvertently pulled out the kid kayaks from the guesthouse boat collection. Oops. At least it was so hot we wanted to get wet anyway.
August is absolutely bonkers-crazy, right? Someone wake me up from my overwhelming-calendar coma sometime in late September.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. “We blithely reveal our deepest vulnerabilities to strangers on the internet, yet we fear speaking with our flesh-and-blood neighbors so much that my local Aldi now boasts eight no-contact self-checkouts and only one real, live cashier. The truth is that much of the time, it is in fact good to talk to in-person strangers (and to be a bit more reserved with internet ones). To talk to them, and to make of them friends.” An excellent piece from
.2. This is why St. Monica is my confirmation saint. “All those who have converted after reading the Confessions... and all those who have found their household in the Church which her son did so much to build: these too are her grandchildren.”
3. Here’s a good deep-dive from Sara Dietz of
on her experience creating a Rule of Life in the spirit of St. Benedict. She does a good job parsing a monastic way of living to ordinary family life with young children.4. What a great homage from
to taking notes, of all things. “The greater benefit happens later—when I return to that book months or years after I read it. Now my markings allow me to re-experience all my initial impressions.”5. And finally, designing urban places that don’t suck. Yes and amen.
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚
Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles
Quotable 💬
“Weak things must boast of being new. Strong things can boast of being old.”
- G.K. Chesterton
What’s the best month? 🗓
Y’all are just a bunch of Anne Shirleys around here.
Find this week’s poll here.
Available in 18 Days! 📫
First Light & Eventide officially releases at the end of this month, on August 29:
Pre-order yours now to start your autumn season with a habit of examen and gratitude.
Quick Links 🔗
Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔
What did you do for fun when you were ten years old? Do you still like doing it?
Have a great weekend,
- Tsh
p.s. Entirely accurate.2
As in, friends from high school and college, not elderly womenfolk. Unless I’m elderly, then I guess they are, too.
Though I also entirely agree writers should be paid fairly for their work.
Oh, that P.S. is hilarious!! And thank you for sharing Talking to Strangers!
When I was 10 I loved playing with dolls and coloring books. I’ve only played with dolls since when raising our own little girls and more recently my granddaughter. Now even she is sadly passed that stage. Coloring might still be enjoyable if I take time away from something else!