What I’m Reading: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell. I’d been hearing about this since it came out earlier this year, and honestly, based on the cover I thought it was just going to be memoir about a woman learning to let go of busyness and embrace quiet and slow, a la Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. Boy was I wrong! And pleasantly so! Instead, this book reads like the culmination of the author’s thoughts and research over the years. She discusses how our consumerist society has monetized our attention and our self-worth, so much so that we feel shame and worthlessness when we aren’t giving our absolute all to our work. For most people, that labor is being exploited by higher-ups in order for them to profit from our labor, so it is in their best interest for us to feel beholden to our work and stuck in cycles of buying and selling. Even the introduction had me confronting my own relationship to work, especially in light of my recent unemployment. Lots of food for thought here.
What I’m Learning: Bullet journals. I am so late to this party! I think I was afraid of starting because I am not a good artist, and most Instagrammable bullet journal spreads feature lovely watercolor-y doodles and decorations. However, I am obsessed with planners and to-do lists, and bullet journals are just a cool way of keeping all of that information in one place. Doodles optional! Instead of illustrating, I’m focusing on creating graphic spreads that utilize interesting lines and boxes. While bullet journals are endlessly customization, I found this Buzzfeed guide useful for understanding the basic structure and where to start.
What I’m Eating: Hurry the Food Up’s Lentil Ricotta bake. I’ve tried to be really conscious of my protein intake over the last year. That’s something people always ask me when I say I’m a vegetarian – “But how do you get protein?!” A) Americans are overly obsessed with protein, and most people don’t need as much as people think we do. B) There are many protein-dense vegetarian/vegan sources, specifically nuts and nut butters, seeds like hemp and flax, legumes and pulses, soy and other meat substitutes like seitan (beware overly processed types in the frozen section), and many vegetables like leafy greens. While I think most people get more than they need, I started noticing that my protein intake was lower than ideal, even for someone not trying to build muscle and leading a mostly sedentary desk job life. Hurry the Food Up is a great resource for incorporating veg protein into your meal plans (as always, do your own research or consult your doctor for your individual protein needs).
What I’m Loving: Since I’ve been reading so much, I’ve started doing short Instagram Story reviews of the books I finish. This helps me remember what I’ve read and share that more easily with others. All those stories have been saved to my highlights.
What I’m Grateful For: Community co-ops. We recently became members at the Riverwest Co-op, and have signed up to become volunteers! We attended orientation, and my first shift is today. With my work in critical pedagogy, I’d become interested in alternative economic models, and this co-op brings healthy food to the neighborhood and adds value to the community through events and community-building. Looking forward to helping out!
What I’m Trying Out: The Milwaukee County Library system has an extensive events calendar, and we are attending a free workshop this week on knife skills. One of the first things we did when we moved here was sign up at the library. I’ve already gone to a free session on owls, where they brought in workers and owls from the Audubon Nature Center and did an informational program for kids (I was the only adult there not accompanying a child). The knife skills class will hopefully teach us some new techniques we can use in the kitchen!
Have a happy weekend!
pieces of paper (cranes & airplanes) 