Hi there,
This time of year is always interesting as a teacher, because everyone has a case of the blerghs… even the teachers. My students are usually top-notch and have great attitudes, but I can tell that even they are hankering for Spring Break. I’m happy to report that ours begins in just a few weeks, and I am here for it! As a family we’re not doing much other than a few days of camping, but it’ll be nice to have a breather and get out in some nature.
My go-to solution for the school-year blerghs: remember your why for learning the way you do, be it homeschool or wherever. Get some fresh air every day (even when it’s still cold or unseasonably warm). Go on daily walks and move your body, just for fun. Perhaps (briefly) set down the challenging classic and read something short and light-hearted. Schedule a game night one evening—yes, even in the midst of busyness. And keep that menu plan nice and easy.
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5 Quick Things ☕️
1. Speaking of my students, this week we had a really good in-class conversation on AI and its role in the learning and writing process—and why it’s so important (especially in their generation) to fight with every fiber of our beings the over-reliance on it to do our human work for us (because tool = something that helps us do our work; machine = something that does our work for us). I liked Hadden Turner’s recent thoughts on AI slop, in particular its connection with our diets: “Our bodies crave instant gratification, and the sugar highs and lows we experience from the junk food exacerbate this. Much easier to pick up the phone than go outside to see wildlife (which requires us to expend energy). Much easier to scroll through AI slop than enjoy a good book. When we want to be entertained, we throw patience and effort to the wind and instantly pick up our mobile slop dispensers and scroll the hours away — alongside a packet of crisps or two.”
2. I love the wisdom that’s been going around for a long time (from the likes of Arthur Brooks and Andrew Huberman) about going on a walk first thing in the morning before having any coffee. The problem with that for me is that I wake up naturally at dark-thirty, and as a woman I’m not going on a walk in the dark by myself, even in our ridiculously super-safe neighborhood. But I’ve decided to embrace partial solutions, as always, and the past few weeks have been doing body stretches and light pilates in the living room near all the windows as the sun comes up (I may switch to the back deck next week). It’s been delightful, and it really is fascinating how much better I feel if I do that before having coffee. Once the sun and/or Kyle is up, I’m happily leashing up the dog and strolling through the neighborhood—but before then, I’m doing the closest thing that works for me, and it’s been really good for my mindset (and my body the rest of the day, surprisingly enough).
3. I appreciated this reflection on the role of laughter in our pursuit of virtue—even when we’re the punchline. I admit I struggle with that sometimes, yet Elizabeth Stice’s words are what I needed to read: “No one enjoys being laughed at. But bearing ridicule may be the kind of foolishness that is consistent with the cross. If we can allow it, mockery can become a kind of small apocalypse, revealing what society thinks of us, what is truly inside our hearts, and the marrow of our actions both public and private.”
4. From late 2007 to the end of 2020, I ran a website called The Art of Simple, and over time, I published many of my own thoughts as well as a smattering of writing friends’ too. I’m toying with the idea of importing some of my favorites written by me (and perhaps by others’ with their permission) here into Substack. It’s getting expensive where I’m hosting it, and Substack is so user-friendly and easy to find. …Any thoughts on this idea?
5. And finally, I loved this short shot-in-the-arm of encouragement from Fr. Mike Schmitz. I completely agree, too—lately I’ve been spending my early morning hours with Jesus just… listening. Not starting with bringing him my laundry list of concerns (because he already knows all of it anyway), but simply enjoying his presence. It’s been a game-changer. 10/10, would recommend.
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺
Masterpiece’s new The Count of Monte Cristo series—it’s excellent (so far)!
Quotable 💬
“Faith frees us from doubt, error, lies, blindness, and nonsense. Hope frees us from fear, discouragement, worry, and guilt. Love frees us from egoism, avarice, turning in on ourselves, and a narrow, meaningless life without value or fruitfulness. It frees us from frustrations and bitterness. The measure of our freedom is the measure of our faith, of our hope, of our love.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe1
What’s the best thing about the current weather in your neck of the woods? 🌳
I really liked this question from Kyle, because it’s not about a set type of weather, it’s about all the craziness that this time of year brings just about everywhere in the world. If your area is like mine (central Texas), weather changes by the hour. So for my answer today, I’m going with “I love wearing shorts and t-shirts in February!” because it is genuinely warm already around here, and I’m choosing to embrace it.
No matter the temp, I’m choosing to go with the flow by the hour: 66.7%
Hey, I like a good reason to stay indoors: 17.4%
I love wearing shorts and t-shirts in February: 15.9%
Find the next poll here.
Historic Highlands: Our 2026 Pilgrimage to Scotland 🏴
“There is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.” - Sir Walter Scott
Quick Links 🔗
Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔
What are you learning about yourself this Lent so far?
Have a great week,
- Tsh
p.s. - A sparkler, an egg, and a moment of truth.
Once more, from my current Lenten read. It’s super good.
Hi Tsh! Listening to the Fr. Mike video and it's reminding me of a song by Andy Squyres called "God the Fool," in a particular way this lyric --
"For the snow upon the mountain, melting into the sea // I will sit with you in silence and listen to you breathe // I will ask you all my questions, I will waste all of your time // You don't give the poet answers so the poet gives you rhymes // What kind of mad man are you, taking on the worst of odds // I'm chalking up my fortunes to your foolishness oh God."
All that to say, this was the kick in the pants I needed to sit in the silence more. Thank you!!
Oooo, I love this partial solution to beginning the day with a walk or other movement before coffee. I've been trying to get in the habit of stepping outside and letting the cold air hit me before I settle in for coffee and reading, but adding some more movement sounds like the ticket.