Inspired by:
I am so inspired by my daughter Emily these days. Her life is hard now, but she is still committed to making healthy changes in all domains, especially her friendships and her mental and physical health.
She has always been a healthy eater, devoted to fresh foods and home cooking— even baking her bread!
She gets outside for fresh air and daily movement. She has an admirable morning routine involving drinking lots of water and spending time with her journal.
So despite the chaos and disruption in her life, she still takes care of herself and manages her stress.
She always inspires me, but especially now.
Emily and Obie
Watching:
I am happy Ted Lasso is back, but the TV has been set to ESPN for basketball and March Madness for most of this month. Now that the UConn women are out of it, though, there is much less happiness in this household.
We still watch Survivor on Wednesdays, and the new season of Succession has begun. I taped it and will watch it this weekend with G.
I am still portioning out Shrinking, to make it last.
These are shows that G and I like to watch together. But softball season is currently in full swing, so she is away a lot, so I’ve been searching for shows I can watch by myself.
I recently found You on Netflix. I found the first episode intriguing.
I am also hate-watching Love is Blind, which recently started a new season.
Reading:
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough was this month’s Book Group pick and I loved it. I listened to it on Audible, and David McCullough (the author) read it, and it was nothing short of inspiring—a story of persistence in the face of crushing and repeated failure. So good.
Then I read The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, and I really don’t know what to say about that one. It was creepy, intriguing, and compelling. I got confused and couldn’t figure out what the hell was happening or why. Nevertheless, I persisted. I hoped things would clear up, and they did for a while, but then I was lost again. It challenged me as a reader. I think it’s one of those books I might get more out of on a second read, but who has time for that?
Ellen suggested a short novel called Weasels in the Attic by a Japanese writer named Hiroko Oyamada. The Kindle estimates the reading time for this one at just an hour. If nothing else, this book will get me closer to my 50-book goal in Goodreads. I just started it.
Listening to:
I recently slogged through a Huberman Lab podcast about dopamine and how it affects motivation and procrastination. As with all Huberman Lab podcasts, I find them too science-y and hard to understand, but in the end, I always come away with some mind-blowing life hack.
In this one (spoiler alert!) I learned that to overcome procrastination, you have to do something you find incredibly uncomfortable, like taking an ice-cold shower. Or, if you hate the idea of meditation, a ten-minute session of sitting and watching your breath. This will reset your dopamine levels back to baseline, and your procrastination project will then seem easy and doable.
(You’re welcome.)
Thinking about:
I want to get something going in the writing space. I am researching Medium and Substack. I might start by reviving my monthly newsletter. I am also considering picking up that memoir I started in 2020 during NaNoWriMo.
Body Metrics
My Oura ring stats for the past 30 days were:
Readiness: 81
Sleep: 93
Activity: 82
Above 85 in any of these metrics is considered Excellent. I have room for improvement in Readiness and Activity.
Eating and Drinking:
I haven’t been as good with my alcohol consumption this month as I would like. So far in March (today is the 27th), I have had only ten Clean days. That means 17 days of wine or other drinks.
Inspired by Emily, the other day, I dug out my juicer and have been making juice for the past few days.
I feel in a food transition period. It’s cold enough that I still crave soups, but the change in light has me wanting salads and fresh greens.. I need to make the turn.
Researching:
ChatGPT. I listened to this Work Life podcast with Adam Grant and I feel excited about its possibilities for idea generation and for curing writer’s block.
Grateful For:
The grass getting green.
The birds singing.
Late afternoon light flooding the yoga room.
More people joining the yoga live streams.
In short, I am grateful for the prospect of spring.
Inspiration Location 