Cruel Compendium #30 šø
Sabotaging your own Zoom, medication for mansplaining, and celebrating rebuilding season
IāmĀ Jillian Anthony, and this is Cruel Summer Book Club, a newsletter about change, heartbreak and healing. In the Cruel Compendium I send out links to everything Iām reading, listening to and thinking about. ICYMI, last week I wrote about our collective languishing, and generally feeling bad. That seemed to resonate with many of you, so, Iām sorry you feel that way, but Iām glad weāre in this together. š
Iām reading
Advice on art paralysis from Beth Pickens, author of Make Your Art No Matter What, in Mason Curreyās newsletter
Itās scary to let ourselves grow as big and as wonderful as we are meant to be! That risk and vulnerability sometimes shows up in other familiar ways: procrastination, overwhelm, dread, avoidance, flakiness, lateness, and self-sabotage. Fear is at the base of all those, too. Fear is not something we have to conquer or vanquish; itās just a human experience and our fear need not condemn us to any inevitable outcome. When we lovingly, compassionately contend with our fear, we can navigate around it, discovering that we have choices.
Why walking is the most underrated form of exercise by Brianna Steinhilber
But itās not only your creativity that will benefit from the mental lift. The act of walking is also a proven mood booster. OneĀ studyĀ found that just 12 minutes of walking resulted in an increase in joviality, vigor, attentiveness and self-confidenceĀ versus the same time spent sitting.Ā Walking in nature, specifically, was found to reduce ruminating over negative experiences, which increases activity in the brain associated with negative emotions and raises risk of depression.
Walking has also been shown to improveĀ memoryĀ and prevent theĀ deterioration of brain tissueĀ as we age. Plus, psychologists studyingĀ how exercise relieves anxiety and depressionĀ also suggest that a 10-minute walk may be just as good as a 45-minute workout when it comes to relieving the symptoms ofĀ anxietyĀ and boosting mood.
All-grown-up ādisaster girlā (you know, the meme where a little girl smiles at the camera in front of a burning home) talks about memes taking control of their likenesses through the sale of NFTs. By Marie Fozio. This is extremely my shit.
Comedian Pat Reganās first Substack post, Me and My Eating Disorder and My Eating Disorder Woman and My Gay Therapist and a Gay Doctor I Went to One Time. Pat has been my favorite comedian for a loooooong time and I laughed and laughed while reading this.
My eating disorder woman and my therapist are both younger than me and in that way we are an extremely MODERN family. We are an unconventional queer throuple that many feel goes against nature and even God. After all itās Adam and EVE, not Adam and HIS TWO THERAPISTS WHO ARE BOTH YOUNGER THAN HIM.Ā
Tressie McMillan Cottom on doing gentle, athlete-adjacent things, and getting a Peloton. Someone gifted me a subscription to Tressieās newsletter, Essaying, (I donāt know who! If itās you please email me so I can thank you!) and Iāve quickly become a devoted reader.
How to name your Black son in a racist country by Tyrone Fleurizard in Roxane Gayās newsletter
Power should not tell the story by Lyz Lenz. How journalists can more responsibly cover police violence.
Return the National Parks to the tribes by David Treuer. A no-brainer, really. Treuer gives a great overview of the bloody, imperialistic creation of the United Statesā National Parks, borne of land stolen from its original peoples.
Iām listening to
NPRās Life Kit: Cutting back on pandemic drinking and How to set boundaries with family.
In Good Company: Guest Amy Fraser talks about building her company OKREAL, and how she rebuilt her life (and kept working) when she found out her husband had girlfriends around the world when she was five months pregnant. (!!!) Also, host Otegha Uwagba has the most beautiful voice.
National Park After Dark: How Not to Die in Yellowstone. Iām going back to Yellowstone with my mom soon, and this is a quick refresher on how to not be a complete idiot and get yourself killed there.
Questionable self-care advice
Support system
Vision board
Obsessions
š” Is this thing on? (Love The Artistās Way shade)
āļø The simplest greeting card
šŗ Cat and dolphin BFFs
š§ Mindful art by Estefania Loret de Mola via Swiss Miss
šæ Spend some serious time looking through the lush, captivating artwork on plant care site How Many Plants
ā” Zoom Escaper: A tool that self-sabotages your audio so you can leave your meeting
šæ Comedian Patti Harrison in her first starring film role! Sheāll be in Ziweās new show too.
š¶āāļø I enjoyed this zoomout view of the growth of a creative project from Craig Mod, whoās built a following based on his walks around Japan. Jealous!
šļøāšØļø I didnāt know Stacey Abrams is a novelist! Read an excerpt of her new thriller.
āļø Adam J. Kurtzās new book, You Are Here *For Now, is out on October 19! Adam is a great friend and an artist I love for his honest outlook on life. Canāt wait to read. My most recent purchase from him was his pink tarot deck.
š The Atlantic is hosting a free digital event called āIn Pursuit of Happinessā on May 20 with a bunch of amazing speakers, including Deepak Chopra.
š» A free coworking Zoom meetup for Black women creatives to get shit done
āļø A great list of writer resources from Erika Hayasaki
š A big list of mutual aid organizations to donate to for Indiaās Covid relief
āļø What you clicked on most in the last Compendium: A presentation to help you figure out what to do with your life
š½ This thread of studentsā artwork depicting post-pandemic New Yorker covers:
Minerva moment
Anthem
Check out the full CSBC playlist
Mood
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