There's something about the end of the year and the holidays that makes it particularly difficult to accept things as they are. It's easy to slip into wishing our family members behaved differently and the circumstances of our lives were different. We can find ourselves ruminating on how things should have, could have, been. This longing can render us unable to notice and appreciate the things about our life that we would cherish if we paid attention.
It's challenging to both be content with what we have and hope for things to be better. To accept ourselves and our loved ones for who we are in this moment and to also hope that we will become better versions of ourselves in the days ahead.
Life is full of contradictions. Our lives can be full of moments of joy and peace, even as we face the most difficult circumstances a human being can experience. I hope all of us open ourselves up to that beauty in the year ahead.
Starting in the new year, the format of the newsletter will change. I’ll be sharing more of my research into the history of care work with you.
“no amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp.”
“As she disintegrates, I disintegrate”
Death, Sex, and Money made a guide to all their episodes based on mental health topics
How to make friends over the internet
Heather Havrilesky on giving advice:
“I don’t want to tell anyone exactly what to do, like a teacher or boss, because what matters is making them feel supported and encouraged enough to locate their own unique values and ideals, their own desires and dreams. Even when I write “I would do THIS,” the most important thing I’m sharing is a model of how to dig deeper, stay present, notice your feelings, and trust yourself. I’m trying to model the self-compassion and self-acceptance it takes to build and furnish and decorate your own world”