January 12, 2022

Hello!

Why am I sending this today instead of Monday? To celebrate Wonder Wednesday!

Last week our office was closed for inventory so on Wednesday I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. What I experienced was childlike wonder. I got splashed by stingrays, touched the tops of moon jellys (which I didn't even know you could do!!!) and was left slack jawed by the suction cups of the Great Pacific Octopus as it moved across the glass of its enclosure. It was water and it was wonder and it was Wednesday and I wanted to replicate it. What was the last thing that filled you with wonder? Or your kids with wonder? Maybe make Wednesdays your wonder days when you seek something out that makes you pause for a moment, or crazy laugh, or both.

As a reminder, our next meeting will be hosted by Alexandra on Tuesday, February 8th to discuss The Long Game by Dorie Clark. A calendar invite will go out when I get my act together.

The Weekly Three

1. Something about the contradiction of January: You all know how much I enjoy the Creative Fuel newsletters from Anna Brones and this month's is no exception. The solstice on December 21st indicated the beginning of winter and nature knows it's time to rest until spring in March. But our version of new year a couple of weeks later says get going and improving. On creativity, she shares a quote from Ray Bradbury that I think we can all appreciate:

“As soon as things get difficult, I walk away. That’s the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you. If you try to approach a cat and pick it up, hell, it won’t let you do it. You’ve got to say, ‘Well, to hell with you.’ And the cat says, ‘Wait a minute. He’s not behaving the way most humans do.’ Then the cat follows you out of curiosity: ‘Well, what’s wrong with you that you don’t love me?’”

2. Something about being a cable tech that launched Lauren Hough's writing career: Last year, a book of essays by Hough was published. She is, as this Washington Post article puts it, "a woman bloodied by the cheap shot that is the American Dream for those never meant to attain it — lesbian, working class, outsider in temperament as well as personal history, unwelcome in the military of “don’t ask, don’t tell". Hough came into the public eye after this article was published in 2018 about being a cable tech. If you missed it then, read it now.

3. Something about lifelong learning (thank you Alexandra!): A list of 25 ways to never stop learning. My favorite is to simply ask questions when you're confused. I was thinking the other day about learning new vocabulary words in high school when preparing for the SATs and realized that only seldom do I bother now to look up words I don't know when I come across them. Number six on the list is to "use technology to your advantage", which I could so easily do if I don't know a definition. If I have an "I wonder" moment, the answer is always at my fingertips since my phone is never far away and I have unlimited data. So what is stopping me? Is there something stopping you? (I can't google the answer to that...or can I?)

Thanks for taking the time to read,

Amber