The holidays are often tough for me (and I'm sure many others) because I live alone, am single, and am far from my family.
This year, I'm embracing the holiday spirit by turning on my Christmas tree lights almost every day after Thanksgiving and even asking Alexa to play holiday music. Some years I buy myself stocking stuffers, but I honestly don’t need any more “stuff”. I hung a couple stockings up for the atmosphere, though.
As I mentioned last week, I ordered a $300 super fancy gourmet chocolate-filled advent calendar. That was my holiday treat to myself this year. On Wednesday, I watched the route of the UPS truck intently as it drove all over my neighborhood, was within 2 blocks of me, but then drove further away.
It finally arrived, and I decided to do an unboxing video of this holiday marvel. (You may need to turn the volume up.)
I pulled out an informational card inside the box that contains this statement that I love. I will be fat but very enlightened by the end of the month.
Then I found there's a QR code that leads to an online experience that goes with each day's treat. It’s like a guided meditation every day to help you appreciate the product.
This really was worth the money and will keep the entire month of December feeling like a gift. Plus, I'll re-use this wondrous container every year. I love having it lit up in the evenings.
📑 Project Updates
Joy Mail
Now is a great time to become a paid subscriber to this newsletter!
I send a monthly postcard to monthly and annual subscribers and extra special goodies to Founding subscribers. I call it Joy Mail!
Here are some examples:
Cornell Certification
I'm finished with the last course of my Cornell certification. It was a two-week course, during which they told us on the third day to just, you know, write an 18-minute TED talk. Then a few days later, we had to write a 6-minute PechaKucha presentation and then build out the slides and record the presentation. A PechaKucha presentation consists of 20 slides that each automatically advances after 20 seconds. I liked the structure of these, but it’s hard to get the timing just right for each slide advance.
This was my least favorite of the five classes for these reasons:
The students weren’t asked to introduce themselves at the beginning of the course, something that I really enjoyed with the other four courses
The TED talk assignment was 100% unreasonable and should be eliminated
I feel the course facilitator misinterpreted what was due for the final project at the end of the course. I think it was a draft script and slides and then a final script and slides. That would’ve allowed him to clearly see what changes we made over the course of our rehearsals. Instead, he’s going to have to deduce that from watching our presentation, which we were required to hand in as a video. Incidentally, there’s no mechanism for uploading a video with the assignments, which is another thing that led me to believe it wasn’t required.
Although my timing was off a bit on my PechaKucha video, I got all the points for the class, and I got access to my certificate. I'm feeling very proud and accomplished.
The Book
I've moved on to finish writing my book How to Find Joy in a Capitalist Hellscape. I got past 25,000 words on Wednesday, so I’m on my way. I’m hoping for at least 50,000 words by the end of December.
Here’s a draft section from the book:
Don't Be So Judgy
At some point in our lives, we all judge other people. Why do we do this? Part of it is insecurity. Part of it is trying to fit into a social group. But we all do it.
This is another way capitalism tries to divide us. It tries to convince us that we are better than THOSE people. The ones over there. The ones that are different than us. (Except they're really not that different than us.) Why do THOSE people get to have things that we don't get to have?
Judging people is one way we connect with others who share the same insecurities. It can seem innocent, but it reinforces our negative ideas about someone else. Most of the time, the things we judge are petty and have nothing to do with what kind of person our target actually is.
Resisting the urge to judge others (either in our minds or out loud to others) helps us reconcile our own ideas about ourselves. We should ask ourselves, "Why do I feel this way? Why do I care so much about this? Am I projecting? Is my judgment connected to something I don't like or accept about myself? Is it worth caring, thinking, and talking about?"
Sometimes, we judge out of jealousy because we feel like someone else is doing so much better than us. But we often don't see the entirety of their situation, and if we did, we might feel more grateful for the circumstances of our own lives and stop adding negativity to theirs.
Judging others is about wanting to gain a sense of superiority over them when deep down we really don't feel superior at all. It's about trying to find ways that we're better than them because we feel bad about ourselves.
Part of not judging people is learning to be OK with our own life despite its challenges. It's knowing that that person is not the cause of our problems but that it's easy for us to direct our frustration at them.
Capitalism wants us to look at people and be jealous. It wants us to fill that hole of jealousy with products that might make us feel like we're better off than we are and better than that other person. Did they just buy a big house that we wish we could have? Capitalism will sell us a bigger house! But maybe we forgot to notice that we are a single-income household, and that person has two incomes in their household. Whoops!
They have a super nice newer car. Capitalism will sell us a new car, too. Except the interest rates have gone up almost 3%, and now we're paying way more. Whoops!
Capitalists love your judgyness. If you keep it up, you'll make them rich. But you won't be rich. You might look like you're rich, but you'll be saddled with debt and extra stress. But don't worry, capitalism will try to "help" you with that, too.
Rebranding
The rebranding of my web development business is essentially done. Here's the new website. I'd appreciate feedback if you have any.
https://www.profunctionweb.com/
I’m now working on a new website estimate format. I’m using this as a rough example to make it look a little slicker. Plus, it will incorporate my contract, so I will no longer need to make two documents.
Everything I did in my last rebrand (when I first started under the name Solid Red Studios) was on point and worked great for me for years. This current rebrand is due and will also move me to another level.
Cross Stitch
I decided to be a little crafty for Christmas, so I bought a cross stitch pattern to make for a relative. But then, I couldn't in good conscience start it until I finished the piece I started in 2019. So here it is.
I'm keeping this one as it's the first piece I designed myself.
I think cross stitch will be something I can do in the evening that will be satisfying. Plus, I'll be making art!
🦩 Everyday Adventures
Cat Problems
Libby has ruined yet another charging cable, this time a fairly new pink one. I went to Best Buy on Thursday and bought two replacements.
Then I wrapped the one in the living room in plastic shipping tape. (I can't be too picky about how things look with this little monster around.) Plus, I left the defunct one next to it as a decoy. We'll see how long this lasts. Excuse the mess! The area behind that chair is filled with Libby’s playthings.
Books
I finished reading Listen Liberal.
Oof.
I highly recommend this book if you want to confirm your gut feeling that Democrats are no longer the party of the people. Unless we confront this issue, nothing will change and people like Donald Trump will continue to look like viable alternatives for working class people who want change and want someone to represent their interests.
I'm frankly sick of being blackmailed into voting for mediocre Democrats with the phrase “Vote blue no matter who.” When I hear that, what I hear is, “Our guy is horrible but not as horrible as their guy!” I'm sick of voting AGAINST the Republican candidate instead of voting FOR the Democratic candidate.
And I'm sick of the lip service Democrats pay to the majority of Americans while working diligently to hold up Wall Street, corporations, and the wealthy class.
We can and must do better if our democracy is going to thrive and the majority of our citizens are going to have a good quality of life and good opportunities.
Did you know Cornel West is running for president? Gabor Maté recently interviewed him.
🌻 One Positive Thing
More people are becoming dissolutioned with their ingrained beliefs and are questioning the justifications used for harming and oppressing other people. This is how we dismantle the system that oppresses and divides us all. Search out information from reliable sources. It's out there, and it's your choice to be open to it.
⏰️ Currently
📚 Started reading Purposeful Empathy by Anita Nowak.
✂ Enjoying all the ways I have to be creative (Christmas cards, cross stitch, writing, etc).
📆 Feeling excited about this month and the things I’ll accomplish.