Hello friend!
I hope your transition into fall has been smooth. We are now chilling in the month of spookiness and I’m writing to let you know of another transition: this newsletter is no longer called Thoughts & Prayers. The new name is…Here & There! The name (which doesn’t include the exclamation point) better reflects what I’m trying to do. I write about random things that come to mind (here and there definition number one) and publish sporadically (here and there definition number two).
Maybe I’ll share more in a future post about exactly why I chose to change, but for now I’ll leave you with a few recommendations.
Make Something Beautiful - Most people can stand to take more agency of their lives. No one took more agency in their life than Steve Jobs. Through this “curated collection of speeches, interviews, and correspondence” you can see how Job’s took ownership of his life and did what he thought was best. His desire to make a “dent in the world” is something we can all aspire to even if it’s not on the level of Apple. And peep the typography and general design of the website. It’s beautiful.
Blocks with Neal Brennan - This is my favorite podcast of the new year. Neal talks to his (mostly) comedy friends and aquaintainces about what stops (or blocks) them. This link is to last week’s episode with Dan Soder (it’s really good), or look in the archives and find someone you connect with!
Small acts of kindness matter more than you think (Vox) - The feeling you get when someone reaches out is nice, right? Yet, when we think to do it to someone else, doubt seeps in. This is due in partial to the negativity bias. We often remember the negative more clearly than the positive. But studies show we like when someone does something nice for us. So, if you feel the urge to text someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, overcome the doubt and let them know you’re thinking of them (I’m doing this right now with this post!). They’ll likely appreciate it.
Xoxo