November 2, 2020

Hello and happy November!

I hope you all are well rested after the extra hour we got this weekend and are doing as well as can be expected with Election Day so close. Don't be too hard on yourself if you're not feeling as energetic or cheerful as usual - the combination of the changing of seasons/weather and clocks, political stress and everything COVID related is taking a toll on everyone. The New York Times offers advice as simple as spending 30 minutes outside in this article How To Avoid Election Stress.

Next Tuesday is our November meeting during which we will be discussing Give and Take by Adam Grant.

Time: Nov 10, 2020 05:30 PM PST https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89786734185?pwd=WmR6b2hOakNOaDNyWFgrQjhRcGVCdz09 Meeting ID: 897 8673 4185 Passcode: 968003

The Weekly Three

1. Something about heroes, villains and perspective: Yesterday I was listening to an episode of The Bechdel Cast about Parasite and wanted to share some of the discussion points that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. To simplify the plot, there is a poor family named the Kims and a rich family named the Parks. The Kims con the Parks with false identities and backgrounds so that they all end up employed in the Park household. Are we not supposed to like the Parks? Are they the villains because they're the wealthy ones? Are the Kims the villains because they are fraudulent, among many other things? It's not clear who the bad guys are in this movie. As the hosts of the podcast point out, villains in movies are often overt and easy to identify. We don't have to think about it. If we think about it, as we do as a result of Parasite, we might find in ourselves traits similar to those of both the villains and the heroes. Do you ever examine yourself through that lens? What role do you play in your daily life, to those around you, what traits of yours are heroic, what actions of yours could be villainous...all worth thinking about.

2. Something about America's richest self-made women: Forbes came out with their list of "the country's most successful women entrepreneurs and executives", defined as women who "have started or helped expand companies". I was happy to see that number one was in the roofing business and number two works in electronic medical records. I was not happy that I hadn't heard either of their names before: Diane Hendricks and Judy Faulkner. Nevertheless, enjoy and celebrate the success in this list and be encouraged and inspired by it.

3. Something fun about fall (because we all need something lighthearted): by the brilliant Grace Farris

Thank you for reading,

be well,

Ambe