5 Quick Things #393 🎉

shorter goals, hosting dinners, reading more books, & happiness

Hi there,

It’s been an interesting week back in the swing of things, even though our local classes don’t start up again until this next Tuesday. I’ve had mountains of work in various categories: book edits, co-op prep, wedding planning, pilgrimage strategizing, all while trying to help my senior stay on top of scholarship applications while not being a nag… I feel like I’m spinning many, many plates these days. No complaints! But I’d be lying if I didn’t say life is very full right now.

But very happily, as I type this I’ve just come back from the hospital where I got to meet my new goddaughter! She’s adorable and squishy and squawky and everything a newborn should be. …It was a delight to meet her and to chat with her parents, local friends who’ve become quite dear.

On top of all that, our local parish community finally moved to our “own” place (in quotes because we’re still renting and we all hope it’s not for forever), and we had our first Mass there this past Sunday. Kyle and I are fairly involved in leadership committees and have been in the trenches getting the place ready. It’s a warehouse-turned-chapel, and we’ve made it as lovely as, well, a warehouse-turned-chapel might be. It’s still scrappy, but we’re a scrappy bunch.

Street in Røros in Winter, by Harald Sohlberg (1903) #

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5 Quick Things ☕️

1. I’ve been mainlining much of Arthur Brooks’ content lately (I just finished his book that I mentioned last week), including his podcast—I really appreciated this episode on the three micronutrients of happiness. In short: happiness is not a feeling, and it’s good to remember that.

2. I have so many essays floating around in my head that I could write if I had the time (see above: many spinning plates), but perhaps I can unpack one thought here: over the years, I’ve come to appreciate 90-day goals over year-long goals, and now typically focus on that at the start of a new year (and then every quarter following, naturally). Instead of asking what I want to get done twelve months from now—because let’s face it, I’ll forget and/or stop caring—I ask what I want to have accomplished three months from now. It’s much more doable, I can actually see the end of that tunnel, and I thrive on change, which means I can always change it up, toss it out, and come up with an entirely new goal every 90 days.

3. I really appreciated Katherine Martinko’s thoughts on why (and how) we should all host more family dinners. We definitely did a bit more this year, and thoroughly enjoyed it… I’d love to host more folks over this next year, and her essay (including the example mentioned at the beginning) has given me the needed kick in the pants: “As soon as you remove the fluff—all those extra stressors that make entertaining feel intimidating—you get a completely different view of it. The experience becomes focused on being with people you like. Yes, the food needs to be good, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.”

4. Here’s another thought that’s been floating around my head: isn’t it weird we’re now entering the second quarter of this century? An absolute ton happened these first 25 years, but they also whooshed by… Hard to believe we’re now in that second phase of a whole century. I remember being in elementary school in the 80s and hearing it was the forty-year anniversary of D-Day (of which held a meaning I barely understood)—but last summer it was the 80th anniversary. Boy, that flew by. …I guess what I’m saying is that cliché we all tend to say: time flies.

5. And finally, 10 tips to read more books this year, from the great Joel J Miller. All his points are great, but I’ve definitely benefitted from #3.

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Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

Stranger Things, season 5 (I don’t care what other people say: I found the ending delightfully satisfying)

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Quotable 💬

“He has most who needs least. Don’t create needs for yourself.”

-St. Josemaría Escrivá

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New Year’s resolutions: yea or nay? 🥳

See, I knew you were my people. I’ve never known a New Year’s resolution to work for me, but quarterly targets certainly do (see above), and both my reflection questions and my Rule of Life help guide me in making those 90-day goals.

• Yea: 8%

• Nay: 24%

• Some other version of planning/goal-setting: 68.9%

Find the next poll here.

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Quick Links 🔗

• 📐 Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join the next pilgrimage: Scotland!

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Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s your Rule of Life these days? (hint: the thing above can help you out if you need it…)

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Have a great week,

- Tsh

p.s. - What I need to send the current dishwasher-unloader in this household.