D&F 1/2/22

Happy New Year! Today’s newsletter went out a little late not because of a party-induced hangover, but because I couldn’t stop playing Ghosts of Tsushima yesterday. Apparently an open-world samurai game is exactly what my brain wants right now. I’ve spent a few New Years in Japan, and even though this game is also set there, it’s not nearly as fun as wandering around Osaka and warming my hands on a can of Boss coffee. Maybe next year!

Did you have a party and watch the ball drop, or did you hide out indoors with a bit of a tipple? Either way, I hope you are glad to leave 2021 behind. I’m beyond believing 2022 will be better than last year, but it will be different.

For starters, we have a new Matrix to rewatch and deconstruct, with a real 1999 vibe. Watching it made me think a lot about the future and the ways we imagine and create a path forward. I tend towards tons of pessimism around humanity’s future, but I would love to believe that somehow we turn this ship around and (sorry) chart a course towards something healthier and happier. Even if it’s just a fantasy, a world where we understand each other as humans sharing a fragile planet-wide ecosystem with plenty of resources to help us all thrive would be amazing.

I spent a fair amount of time last year talking about COVID and climate with my therapist, but I am also glad to have a psychiatrist who equipped me with just the little leg up that kept me on the bike and able to avoid succumbing to my downer tendencies. Hilariously, the weird “church” started by a sci-fi guy is still waging a war against psychiatrists that makes very little sense.

You might have spent last year finding new ways to occupy your time, but it’s likely you felt lazy at various times—I certainly did! This author argues we need to slow down and recontextualize our lives and deconstruct productivity (or maybe destroy it?) in order to grow. As a woman raised protestant, I’m well-aware of our “work ethic” and my entire adult life grappled with what my “worth” is to the world. I think it could be extremely freeing and satisfying to slow down and relax a bit.

Outside of our own personal feelings and responsibilities, it might even be healthier for the planet and economy to slow down and even, perhaps, de-grow. I’m reading this book to explore the macroeconomic concept of degrowth, and this one to think more about labor rights and activism. Whatever happens, the way through this isn’t solving our individual feelings and guilt, but instead building a system through our governments that protects and cares for all peoples.

I’m also reading Heretics of Dune, lest you think I’m a non-fiction lady now. It’s weird.

Closing

Well, the sun is shining in Oakland today, even though it’s also pretty damn chilly, so that means it’s just about time to hop on my bike and ride. Whatever the weather where you are, I hope you do something delightful today, even if it’s just looking deep into your cat’s eyes. As usual, I’ll spend the next 51 weeks of this year sending out my thoughts and whatever weird links I’ve found to you. Until next week, eat something great, look at the moon, and keep truckin’, space cowgirls~

D&F 1/2/22

Links

Closing