SR #21: I'm About to Get All Woo-Woo
Plus, a sweatshirt we all need, and a massive reading kick
I’m not a woo-woo type of person. In fact, as soon as anything turns toward the woo-woo, I tend to run away. But, last week when I was filling out my five year journal, I came across the above passage.
“I’m feeling this shift inside me to want to do more of what I love - podcasting, writing, designing. I’m wondering if somehow that can be my actual job. I don’t think my future is in coaching.”
Now, mind you, this was early August and my life hadn’t yet changed. But within just a couple of weeks of writing this, things started shifting. It was as if writing down what I wanted somehow summoned it all into being. How very woo-woo of me, right?
When I was filling out my entry for August 10th, 2024 and read what I wrote, I started laughing to myself. This happened. This is literally my job now - I’m a podcast producer, a writer (both for myself and others), and a graphic designer. I have no idea what you’d call this (other than my own definition of being creatively promiscuous), but whatever it is, that’s what I am.
And now I’m just wondering - has my path always been pointed in this direction? Or did saying it out loud make it come true? Maybe both? What is your experience with all things woo-woo and manifesting? And how do I make sure it doesn’t go away?
These are the faces I was dealing with on Friday when my husband had finally relented about getting a second cat, and these two were gung-ho about going to the shelter NOW. Spoiler: we found a kitty. He’ll be joining our family on Wednesday. More on him next week.
📖 THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker - this book is about what would happen if the earth's rotation began to slow - a phenomena they call the slowing. The scientists didn't know this was coming. Everyone simply woke up one day to discover that their days had increased by a handful of minutes. But slowly, more and more time is added - the days and nights are getting longer and longer and no one quite knows why or how to stop it. This book talks about the consequences of that on human bodies, crops, animals, magnetic tides, and more. It shows the divide between the Real Timers - those who base their time on when the sun rises and sets - and the Clock Timers - those who are determined to stick with a 24 hour time period. It's a terrifying look at what could happen if suddenly the earth's rotation began to slow and our days just continued to increase - by the end of the book, they're up to 70 hour days!
The narrator, Julia, is now an adult. She shares the story of when this all began to happen when she was an 11 year old. But we're not just seeing her responses to it, we're also seeing life as an 11 year old. Crushes, and friendships, and what it is to be a lonely pre-teen. She's navigating all of the regular angst of this age alongside this terrifying new reality. That mix, in my opinion, was so expertly crafted. The author really found a way for us to truly care about the characters in the story, not just the overarching catastrophe happening.
🎙️ I really enjoy Laura Tremaine’s podcast, 10 Things to Tell You. But this episode about the 10 weird things she’s done was so much fun to listen to.
👟 Shoutout to the fellow parents whose kids hate tying their shoes. Have you tried bungee cord shoe laces?! No more tying. Henry CAN tie his shoes but it’s annoying for all involved. So when we got new school shoes this year, I grabbed these both for him and for Harrison - and that means we’ve got a lot more shoe options now!
🛌 Since subscribing to the New York Times, I love seeing the products they suggest in WireCutter. Two inspired new purchases - this incredibly inexpensive comforter, and these sheets, both of which will supposedly help me stay cool while I sleep.
🎙️ I was positively DELIGHTED to listen to a Three Things episode of Bad on Paper featuring Emily Henry. With hosts
and , the conversation was slightly unhinged in the very best way.👩💻 My morning routine now consists of (in this order) - scanning through the NYT app for articles I want to read. Then playing Strands, then Connections, then The Mini. After that I typically play a word search game. It’s the most leisurely way to start my morning that is going to abruptly change when school starts again on the 28th. I’m already mourning it. Tell me your morning routine!
*this post may contain affiliate links which throw me a bit of a kickback with no extra cost to you!
I love my NYT morning email and wordle which I’ve just dipped into!
I love this. Personally, I think all the magic of manifesting is just that when we define for ourselves what we want, when we can make a solid statement like you did, we then also start acting in ways that help bring it about. Because it won’t really work to say what we want and then just sit down and do nothing. So essentially, my position is that “manifesting” is just another word for “goal setting” and all of it requires that we take actions toward what we say we want. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about it going away! Not unless you change what you want and start acting in ways to bring that new vision to fruition. 😁❤️