☁️ You should celebrate that good thing

social media fall / email apnea / protein diet coke?

Hi friend,

Fall is very much upon us here in New England. The trees outside my window as I write this are all shades of red, orange, and yellow.

I’ve lived in Massachusetts my entire life, and I’ve only recently realized in my adult life how spoiled we are to get such a season. How wild it is that people travel from all over the world to see our foliage, visit the witches in Salem, and enjoy everything apple and maple.

As a summer girl, fall has always been bittersweet for me. I dislike what it signals – the cold, short, dark days of winter. Fears of slipping on black ice. Being simultaneously freezing and sweating while shoveling snow. You know, all the fun things people talk about when they romanticize seasons.

So, while I’m a big fan of all the spices and flavors of fall, I could never get truly excited, knowing what came after.

I don’t know if it’s getting older or the world changing, but I think I’m done with that line of thinking. Sure, there will be tough days ahead. But those tough days will happen regardless of whether or not I celebrate what’s happening now.

Let me say that again:

Tough days are going to happen whether or not we celebrate our present joys.

Days are going to get colder and shorter. The calendar year will come to a close, and a new one will start again. There will be lows, but there will also be a lot of highs – and we deserve to enjoy those moments of joy.

So, with that said, I’m choosing to celebrate this new season and embrace the little joys within it – written to you while sipping a cinnamon bun latte from my local coffee shop.

with warmth + love,

N

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📚 read

• Does an Instagram presence determine our existence? if you’re not Instagram, are you essentially dead to society?

• Welcome social media fall: seasons are the “original trends” and this piece dissects how Gen Z is making fall their own on social media

• Ratios aren’t really that important: it’s long become the status symbol as “cool” but when you really think about it… does it matter?

• You should let people know if you’re happy with them: we focus so much on worrying if we’re doing right by people, tell people if you appreciate them

• Do you have email apnea? apparently it’s the phenomenon where you hold your breath as you scroll and focus on your email – and it’s damaging

• Can’t decide whether to try this or vom: ‘protein diet coke’ – mixing a vanilla protein shake with a diet coke – is swiftly gaining popularity… would you try it?

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🌱 do

Is it hard for you to not do things? Welcome to the club, friend!

I was struck by Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter last week where he introduced the Unproductivity Challenge. Here’s the gist:

Find an hour or two in the next week when you expect to have time to yourself. Mark it in your calendar. When that moment comes, the rule is simple: you can’t do anything productive.

That includes: work, housework, running errands, anything that feels like “being productive” to you.

I really want to give this a try but I also think I’ll fail miserably if left to my own devices. Want to give it a go with me? Reply or comment + I’ll start up a Substack message group for accountability!

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✌️ until next week

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Thanks for reading, friend! 🤍