A gentle close to the week
With 7 things that made life a little better / Issue 1,153
Oh, hi friends!
I’ve been thinking this week about invested time.
Say you usually spend 2 hours a week on your side project or creative work.
How would it feel to spend 20 hours a week on the same project?
Too much? Maybe. Maybe not.
But I wonder what might change or get deeper.
How it — and you — might grow.
That can sound like an unreasonable amount of time.
But try it as a thought experiment.
Maybe that’s a gentle spin on looking at what we do and how we spent the week.
Asking what it would take to slow down and invest more time — with anything.
Where would yours go?
7 Things That Made Life a Little Better This Week
The trailer for Nyad! Annette Bening plays 64-year-old Diana Nyad as she attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida.
OK, but did you also know there’s a new rom-com, What Happens Later, with Meg Ryan and David Duchovny (my fave)?
A woman named Melanie Marshall responded to one of my newsletters five years ago, saying she was a shy singer-songwriter who wanted to start playing her music in public. Guess what? She did. Her new single, “Bottle This Moment” is a peaceful and restorative gem. Listen on Spotify. Stories of artistic bravery and persistence are my favorites.
Wonderful reading this essay on riding the train from Chicago to New Orleans. (Made me want to do the CA to NY cross-country trip a second time!)
Having lunch with my friend Nina Semczuk at Laut, a Malaysian, Thai, and Singaporean restaurant near Union Square. SO GOOD. Both the food and catching up with the only other person who can also rattle off 100 self-help book titles.
Setting app limits on my iPhone continues to make every day better. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Apps Limits to try it out.
Fall theater is raging. One of my favorite recent pieces is Patrick Page’s solo performance, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain. You can read Colin’s review here — a must-see for actors, writers, Shakespeare fiends. Btw, if you ever need theater recs, ask away! We’ll find something great for you.
And it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m so looking forward to cheering on NYC Marathon runners this Sunday. The city’s best day of the year. We’re all moving toward something. For a few hours, they make it real. Mile by mile.
Have a great and gentle and restorative weekend, friends. I’m so glad you’re here.
I’ve been thinking about this a LOT, Kara. My time investment portfolio rn looks like: 40hrs/week corporate day job, 2-6hrs/week writing. I’m about to change my investment approach to enhance long-term outcomes for my creative projects by shifting to 20hrs/week day job, 15hrs/week writing. I have a feeling that’s going to yield results pretty quickly:)
NYAD looks SO goo! I've tried playing around with app limits—or maybe just notification settings—and it hasn't done anything but make me more frustrated. :( I tried, though!