December 6, 2021

Greetings BOSLady Book Club,

Guess what I did this morning! I opened another window in the rad Women Philosophers Advent calendar that my sister gave me :) Each day has a quote from the philosopher of the day and tea to sip while you contemplate it. It's a festive way to get the mental cogs moving every day until Christmas. Do any of you have December rituals that you've been enjoying?

Our December holiday party/game night is next week already! The party will be December 14th at 4pm PST/ 7pm EST, platform to be announced. If you have any suggestions for free apps that are ideal for large groups, please let me know.

The Weekly Three

1. Something about those little things in your city that you see but don't know much about: I love all of the "best of 2021" lists that come out this time of year, especially book related. One such list recommended 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. A collection of material from the 99% Invisible podcast, the book is short articles about things like contractor stamps in concrete, Thomassons, and curb cuts. After reading just a few pages, I found my time this weekend walking around city streets turning into a scavenger hunt. 10/10 recommend.

2. Something from Wallace J Nichols - an invitation! Our new friend sent an Instagram message inviting us to this year's deconstructed Blue Mind Summit on Sunday, December 12th. Refreshingly, it involves no video calls and can be enjoyed at your leisure.

3. Something from Alice Walker: I want to close this letter out with some wisdom from Alice Walker.

"Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don't even recognize that growth is happening. We may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical, or we may feel depressed. It would never occur to us, unless we stumbled upon a book or a person who explained to us, that we were in fact in the process of change, of actually becoming larger, spiritually, than we were before. Whenever we grow, we tend to feel it, as a young seed must feel the weight and inertia of the earth as it seeks to break out of its shell on its way to becoming a plant. Often the feeling is anything but pleasant. But what is most unpleasant is the not knowing what is happening. Those long periods when something inside ourselves seems to be waiting, holding its breath, unsure about what the next step should be, eventually become the periods we wait for, for its in those periods that we realize that we are being prepared for the next phase of our life and that, in all probability, a new level of the personality is about to be revealed."

Thank you for taking the time to read,

Amber