How to take a brain break
My break involved painting.
According to the stats, Sunday Reads is read across 47 states and in 33 countries. So first of all, thank you. But second of all, that means many of you (all of you?) but particularly those of you in the United States are likely feeling some version of the pervasive, nauseating, all-encompassing election anxiety. I voted early on Thursday, which definitely felt productive but it’s hard (impossible?) to put the anxiety to bed.
Mindless TV helps, and I shared my favorite mindless watch on
’s great newsletter , but what’s helped the most is doing things completely unrelated to what I usually do every day. Essentially, distracting myself with the different.On Friday at my day job we had a “Professional Development Day.” I’m generally dubious of all prescribed professional “fun” but I think this just came at the right time in my election anxiety spiral.
For the day, we were invited to select two classes or sessions that we wanted to participate in. I decided to lean totally out of what I do every day (read and write) and use other parts of my brain instead. I opted for painting oil portraits on paper and plant propagating. Two activities deeply unconnected to my daily life. I hadn’t painted since high school, and I have no idea how to take care of my house plants, so these seemed like perfect choices.
In the painting studio with the model in front of us, and a dozen amateur painters standing at their easels, I was able to lose myself for a little bit in the brush strokes, the observation required, the color smeared onto my palette. In plant propagating I thought about nothing but what I was learning about root bound plants and the best place on a branch to prune. Midway through the session I befriended a Spanish teacher and did something I rarely do anymore, had a long, involved, conversation in Spanish. Different parts of my brain were moving and firing. It felt good.
Later that day, I walked through a neighborhood I had never been to before. I let myself feel a little lost. That felt good too.
My impulse as a type-A person is always to quadruple-down on the thing that’s giving me anxiety or to bury myself in my work. It’s only very rarely productive. This day was a good reminder to sometimes do the opposite of our impulses. I won’t tell you that I’m now somehow no longer anxious about the election (I deeply am). But I will tell you that painting, planting, walking down streets I don’t know all helped connect me to parts of myself that I don’t usually access — and in that discovery there was a welcome moment of quiet.
If you’re parenting in the 2020s you’re likely aware of Emily Oster. This piece dives deep into her work, and her B-school brand of optimization parenting.
I’m SO intimidated by Gen Alpha, but it sounds like everyone is?
It’s been pretty wild to watch mommy blogger (no shade) Jessica Reed Kraus’ shift from Hillary voter to anti-vaxx RFK Jr. fan and “MAGA’s secret weapon”—this profile of her tracked that shift.
This was fun: US book covers vs. their UK counterparts. Who wore it better?
Mother Tongue magazine consistently makes me feel seen as both a mother and a human. It’s also gorgeously designed. This current issue, their seventh, is filled with incredible writing—and yes that’s
on the cover. My favorites pieces came from Jennifer Romolini and Rachel Yoder. Also, their Instagram is one of the best in the game—the quotes they share are bite-sized thinkers that are the perfect intermissions in my doom scroll.
Eeek that Gen Alpha article made my skin crawl. Thanks for sharing. And I just discovered Mother Tongue - I can’t wait for my first copy.
Thanks! Great Sunday morning message. I’m going fishing.