Vol 2 Issue 18

Pic of the week 

This is essentially everything I own.  I kind of wish I owned less.  But I'm also pretty happy about the fact that it all fits in one room.

What's going on?

Life is busy busy busy.  I had big dreams of bringing a bunch of my stuff back to LA and going through it all and building some furniture and buying some furniture and getting some houseplants and just enjoying some productive summertime upgrades on my life.  But the reality is work and more work and some other stuff and my storage boxes have been sitting in my room untouched for a week.  But I got paid to play with kids and get to know interesting people and eat food so I can't complain too much.  I did end up getting to dive into a couple of these storage boxes this weekend, and that felt good.  My "donate" pile is getting pretty big, and I'm excited to get a new bookshelf with some storage spots and maybe even put up some new drapes.  Cuz I'm an adult and that's what we do. Drapes.

Also.  Summer is in full-swing temperature wise and my apartment is sometimes the worst.  It soaks up the heat all day and then at night, when outdoor temperatures are PERFECT, my bedroom continues to be a sweltering sweat box.  If I could I would just set my fan right by my window and have it blow in cold air all night, but the apartment building next door is, like, RIGHT next door and the lights over people's doors outside shine directly into my retinas all night, so I have to have blackout curtains, and so a cool outdoor breeze is just out of reach.  Moving the inside air around is about the best I can hope for. 

What I'm reading

This one is about the history of our species and how we rose from relative obscurity to become not only the dominant human species ('human' meaning all of the species belonging to the genus 'homo'), but also the dominant species on the planet.  Fascinating stuff. 

What I'm watching

WHAT I EAT!  Not as much as I should.  But I try.  Cuz I wanna take care of myself better.  Ya know?

What I'm listening to

This week's episode of Mormon Mental Health was so so good.  Episode 183. It takes them a bit to get the episodes up on their website, so I don't have a direct link, but it was great.  The title is Framing Mormonism that Benefits Mental and Relational Health.  According to the episode description, "They talk about aspects or framing of Mormon theology that can be helpful to mental health instead of detrimental.  Some of the topics they include are: agency, love as the primary commandment, faith, ongoing revelation, and many more." Take a listen. 

Also listening to this series on the podcast "A Thoughtful Faith" called "Reconstructing Death" that I think is so helpful and interesting and good.  Just different takes on death, dying, grief, mourning etc. from different fields of study and thought.