sunday edition no. 6: weekend update
questions I'm asking myself after a long weekend with friends, the shoes that have been on my wish list since november, and the only heatless curl method you will ever need.
Coming to you live from the Salt Lake City airport - perhaps a rebrand of the Sunday Edition is in order, considering I’ve sent the last three on a Monday (whoops). Weekend Update, perhaps? Either way, here she is!
I am currently en route to Seattle after a weekend trip to Utah, a family ski trip that happened to coincide with an opportunity to see some friends I haven’t seen in a while. The result was a weekend that was so full and fulfilling: the opportunity to see my dad and uncle for our annual family ski trip (adorably: the trip originated just the two of them 30+ years ago), the opportunity to spend time with one of Mark and I’s best friend’s from college and his new girlfriend. The days were non-stop, the skiing hard and fun, the conversations warm and inspiring.
Something I can’t stop thinking about: I love having experiences where I spend time with friends and walk away from the experience reconsidering my own life: a few years ago we took a trip with some friends who are some of the most motivated and hardworking people I’ve ever met. I’ve always considered myself an achiever, and career-oriented, but I left that trip stunned and inspired by all these friends were doing in their personal and professional lives.
Our time with friends this year left me feeling similarly: I’ve always considered myself athletic and (at least in recent years) fairly outdoorsy: I hike, I backpack, I camp, I ski, I sail. And this weekend I was deeply moved by the fact that these friends had intentionally simplified their lives in order to prioritize their outdoor hobbies and passions: ski touring, avalanche safety training, long distance hiking.
I don’t mean this in that I’m having an existential crisis of comparison, that I need to found my own company or start doing ultralight hiking or some other extreme addition to my life.
Instead, I’m struck by how wonderful it is to have friends who have such a wide array of experiences and perspectives, and that my time with them leaves me energized, excited, and thinking critically about my own life.
I’m inspired to try new things, to change, to reprioritize. Especially after the hectic frenzy of the past few weeks at work, these conversations reaffirmed my desire to establish some simplicity.
By extension, I’m curious ( in the way that self-reflective people can be) about how people experience their time with me: do they walk away inspired? Recharged? Like the aperture on their perspective has widened?
And, more importantly: how do I experience my own life? When I take a step back from the day to day and the minutiae and the to do lists: am I interested? Am I excited? Am I working towards things I am passionate about? Am I creating space for joy and passion and peace?
I don’t know if I know the answer, but I sure am happy to be thinking about the questions.
Xx
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weekend update
READING:
Hope, by Andrew Ridker. A doctor working on an uninspiring research project and suffering the ill-intended effects of an open marriage finds himself fabricating his work to support his manipulative mother. The novel chronicles the decisions leading up to, and immediately resulting from, the fallout over the course of the year. It’s quick, it’s funny, and it’s endearingly optimistic for a novel about someone ruining his own life.
WATCHING:
I’ve mentioned that I watch TV in fits and starts, and winter is usually the prime time. It’s dark out. There are award nominees I want to understand the hype around, and especially with some higher stress times at work, I personally love a good movie / show to relax and decompress.
Criminal Record: Two cops clash over a possible wrongful conviction in this British police drama. What starts as a simple inquiry into an old case turns into intense questions of ethical lines, police brutality, racism, and corruption. I personally have stopped really watching any crime television, but performances by Cush Jumbo as D.S. June Lenker opposite Peter Capaldi as DCI Daniel Hegerty are captivating. I’m on episode 5 of 8, and look forward to the conclusion. Apple TV+
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