Goodbye 2022 & Goodbye Social Media!
a little recap of my favorite things of the past year plus a reflection on my relationship with ~social media~
I know you signed up for this newsletter because you wanted to read stories about the people I’ve met as a healthcare worker, and I promise I’ll be serving more of that in 2023.
But I can’t move on from the past year without giving you a recap of all the good things I consumed in 2022 :) Sooo without further ado, let’s get this ball rolling!
Favorite Books I Read in 2022
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing by Lauren Hough—A memoir in the form of an essay collection, Lauren tells stories of her childhood as a member of a cult, her time in the military, and the random jobs she held trying to make ends meet while pursuing writing. Very interesting indeed!
Luster by Raven Leilani—A fiction novel that follows a twenty-something Black woman trying to keep afloat in NYC, who finds herself involved with a much older white man who’s in an open marriage. I love a novel with messy, imperfect characters and pair that with Leilani’s beautiful sentences—well, you have a recipe for a hit in my books!
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong—An autobiographical novel that reads like long form poetry, it is so beautiful and heartbreaking and a reminder that we are all truly blessed to be living in this world at the same time as Ocean Vuong.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee—I love a fictional tale that follows multiple generations of a family!! This one follows a family trying to survive in the early 1900s Korea & Japan; it is a sad one with an abundance of trigger warnings so tread lightly.
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal—This was a very fun book to read that is filled to the brim with beer and Minnesota and North Shore references :)
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole—An immersive and timely and freaky thriller set in a Brooklyn neighborhood that is being gentrified at a frightening pace; I zoomed through the audiobook.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green—This was a delightful essay collection where the author dissects a variety of topics and reviews them such as Diet Dr. Pepper and air conditioning; it made me laugh and it made me cry and it made me ponder the way I observe the world. I listened to the audiobook and will 100% listen to it again in the future.
The Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib—I am a major Hanif fan and in his most recent book he details the history of Black music, art, and performance. I learned a lot from this book!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin—A sweeping novel that is a love story at its core, it follows the creative partners of a video game as they pursue their wildest ambitions.
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba—If you are interested in organizing within your community and the abolition of the prison industrial complex & the police force as we know it—this book is for you. Very informative and inspiring, I definitely recommend.
Honorable Mentions: Meg Mason’s Sorrow & Bliss, Amy Bloom’s In Love, Anna Quindlen’s Write For Your Life, Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts, Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers, Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds, Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here, Akwaeke Emezi’s You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty
Favorite Television Shows & Movies I Watched in 2022
Reservation Dogs—This series follows four teens living on a reservation in Oklahoma. It is equal parts hilarious & heavy, and the portrayal of rural midwest towns is spot on. You can stream it on Hulu.
Abbott Elementary—A very funny mockumentary series full of quirky characters that you’ll fall in love with, it does an excellent job of hitting on real world issues like the constant cuts to funding that public schools face. You can stream it on Hulu.
Kindred—Loosely based on the novel by Octavia Butler (which I highly recommend reading), it a series that follows a Black woman who keeps getting pulled back into time to a plantation where her ancestors lived. You can stream it on Hulu.
Everything Everywhere All at Once—A movie that explores multiple universes and timelines, need I say more?
Don’t Look Up—a satirical movie about two astronomers who go on a media tour to warn people about the impending doom of the planet and nobody seems to care; sounds kinda familiar if you replace astronomers with climate scientists, eh? You can stream it on Netflix.
Favorite Memories of 2022
All the sunrises and sunsets I witnessed over Lake Superior, most notably the one I watched while eating a lingonberry danish with the love of my life at New Scenic Cafe.
Seeing an abundance of wildlife outside my backdoor; the fox in the woods on New Years Eve takes the cake!
Having a fruitful garden and eating tomatoes I grew myself!
Cold plunges in the big lake that took my breath away.
Two trips to Nebraska where I saw my baby sister and cousin graduate and where I spent loads of time soaking up my family :)
Making gorditas and Mexican rice, and then having my Minnesota friends over to share it all with them.
Seeing one of my favorite bands, Bad Bad Hats, at Wild State Cider.
Volunteering at Bent Paddle’s Festiversary and then using my penny pints with Ben for his first visit to the taproom :)
Enjoying pizza with Ben at Ursa Minor.
Discovering Ledge Rock Grille and enjoying their delicious drinks along the shore of Lake Superior.
Tailgating Grandma’s Marathon with friends :)
Starting my newsletter Parallel Charts!!
The many many manyyyyy game nights and bonfires and dinners with our neighbors and friends.
Goodbye Social Media??????
Despite all the good, 2022 was a very hard year. Many tears were shed—in my car, in the bathroom at work, in the shower, and in the arms of my husband. Ben spent the first six months in excruciating pain. He had back surgery that didn’t really resolve the situation, and the past six months have felt like I have been reliving the last part of 2021—it’s like we are trapped in a time loop, repeating the same cycles again and again with no real resolutions. I’ve had to shoulder more of the household responsibilities. I also took a manager position at work this summer and although it has been a good learning experience, it has also given me more stress. The result? I’ve found myself picking up my phone more often, scrolling scrolling scrolling to disassociate. I’ve used social media to distract me from my feelings and I’ve wasted a lot of time & attention in doing so. I am tired and burnt out and I am ready to make some changes. I want to take back my time and attention, and I want to use it to create things that I am proud of including more newsletters and writing projects. And after reading Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism, I have been inspired to embark in a digital declutter of sorts, which is outlined below.
The Digital Declutter Process
Put aside a thirty-day period during which you will take a break from optional technologies in your life.
During this thirty-day break, explore and rediscover activities and behaviors that you find satisfying and meaningful.
At the end of the break, reintroduce optional technologies into your life, starting from a blank slate. For each technology you reintroduce, determine what value it serves in your life and how specifically you will use it so as to maximize this value.
—Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism, 2019
After my digital declutter, I am hoping to have better habits and routines in place that leave my life feeling full and rich and healthy and creative. Mary Oliver said, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” and to that I answer “I plan to put my phone down more often than not so I can soak up the precious time I have on this planet with my full attention.”
Thanks so much for reading this little newsletter :) If you’ve enjoyed it, please consider sharing it with your friends and enemies and everyone in between. Andddd if you have any book/movie/television series recommendations, I would love if you sent them my way :)