Hi Friends-
For the latest episode of Hurry Slowly, I had a great conversation with writer and meditation teacher, Sebene Selassie, whose new book, You Belong: A Call for Connection, couldn't be more on the pulse of this moment. Among other things, we talked about why our culture pulls us into patterns of domination and separation, how to break out of the pathology of productivity, and why we don't have to make ourselves a "problem" to aspire to transformation.
Listen to: "Sebene Selassie: The Delusion of Separation" | | LINK ABOUT IT
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"When something's not coming, it's coming." Musician Nick Cave on creative block as part of the process: "In my experience, lyrics are almost always seemingly just not coming. This is the tearful ground zero of song writing — at least for some of us. This lack of motion, this sense of suspended powerlessness, can feel extraordinarily desperate for a songwriter. But the thing you must hold on to through these difficult periods, as hard as it may be, is this — when something's not coming, it's coming. It took me many years to learn this, and to this day I have trouble remembering it."
You can't do this work if you're running on empty. NPR talks to Black Americans about activism and burnout: "We talk about holistic approaches," Smith said. "And part of that, for me, is saying all parts of who we are are present in this work, especially when it's around racial justice. And so, we should be carving out space for people to just name their limits and also name their vulnerabilities and saying, 'I can't right now....and that's fine."
Breaking the habituation habit. As humans we have a tendency to get used to things — even pandemics. Rob Walker proposes a few exercises for fending off habituation: "1) Identify a human-made miracle in your life you've come to take for granted. 2) Same for a feature of the natural world: pick out some miracle of nature you encounter so often you've stopped noticing it. 3) Consider a person in your life (IRL or digitally), whether close or a familiar stranger or anywhere in between, that you enjoy but have come to take for granted. 4) Now go the other way: What's a problem or annoyance you've gotten habituated to — but that can be solved? How could you solve it?"
Avoiding spiritual bypass. A helpful breakdown from the Anti-Racism Daily newsletter on the concept of spiritual bypass and how it shows up in wellness spaces and yoga classes in particular: "There is a difference between having the appearance of processing something difficult and processing it. Truthfully, on an individual level, no one can know this for sure except you. However, it can manifest in ways that harm others. For example, when someone shares a painful experience, and you immediately respond with 'love and light' style advice, rather than actively listening and empathizing."
+ Talkspace, where startup culture collides with mental health concerns.
+ An editor that eliminates gender-biased wording from job descriptions.
+ Zadie Smith on her new essay collection, Intimations. (So good!)
+ Pandemic art.
| | SHOUT-OUTS:
The artwork is from: Nate Williams, who works out of Utah.
Link ideas from: Kathryn Downie, Austin Kleon, Swiss Miss, and Race Ahead.
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Hi, I'm Jocelyn, the human behind this newsletter. I created the online course RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday, and I host Hurry Slowly — a podcast about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient by slowing down. | | | | |
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