August 8, 2022

Hello!

It's been a couple of weeks but I'm back. August feels like the Sunday of months, closing out summer and giving you that back to school feeling. Here in Southern California the heat remains relentless and all the days roll into one (hence me forgetting to send these letters). The days blending reveal a type of luxury that I have - no kids to get ready for back to school, no deadlines stressing me out. I'm grateful for the sunshine and the relative stressless existence this season has provided thus far, and am wishing the same for you all.

The Weekly Three

1. Something about city planning and resident involvement: New housing developments can raise the ire of current residents in places that are already crowded. State mandates in California, for example, require an increase in housing and city planners face angry groups at town meetings who don't approve of proposed locations for construction or understand restrictions planners face. This Bloomberg article talks about the virtual tools that some cities are using that allow "online participants to decide where they would zone and permit additional housing, and submit their own maps to meet the state-mandated housing production goals (known as the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA". It's compared to a simple version of SimCity and simultaneously empowers and educates residents.

2. Something about plateaus, energy levels, and plans: I listened to this Rich Roll podcast episode on a long run a couple of weeks ago and I was so engrossed that it flew by. It's Robin Arzon's fourth time on the show and you can see why he keeps asking her back. Here are some of my favorite discussion points:

• Think about your energy as currency. When you agree to do something, ask yourself what the cost will be, what is the energy expenditure of that activity

• When you're presented with an opportunity, your response should either be a "no, thanks" or a "hell yes". With all of the obligations that you already have or may be presented with, make sure you're committing yourself to things that light a fire in you

• Struggling with not having a "next thing" that you're work towards and instead taking time to reflect on what you've achieved and sit with that achievement rather than rushing on to the next

• the value of things like vision boards and journaling. You are thinking about exactly what you want, naming it and claiming it

• the value of envy - what is this showing me that I want?

3. Something sentimental (and book related): "A librarian collects all the things left in books" and has put them on the Oakland library website. One of the things that I love about used and library books is that they often contain marginalia from past readers or some other residue that provides a window into their existence. It reminds me of the scene in Travels with Charley in Search of America when the author is allowed to rest in a hotel room that has not yet been cleaned while he waits for his own to be ready. Based on the items left behind and rumpled up, he tries to piece together a story about the previous occupant. Take a few minutes to look at the website and see where your imagination takes you.

Thank you for taking the time to read, Amber

(she/her)