SPORTS BETTING, POWER, AND GIRLS

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that’s me!!

I was wrong: Earlier this year, multiple friends told me to read Famesick by Lena Dunham. I swiftly told both of those friends that I was not interested. Because I wasn’t, but they wore me down with reminders of how great a writer Lena is. And she is, and I remembered that fact and dove in. Two pages in, I was immediately hooked, because she opens the door on how Girls came to be, how Hollywood works, what it was like to essentially wake up famous after directing a small, self-funded film. It also reminded me why it’s so important that women write their stories, and that we read those stories. Because of Famesick, I have an entirely different understanding (and appreciation) for Lena today than I did last week – of what she went through, of the power of public narrative, of chronic pain, of addiction. If you liked Girls, read Famesick.

What I’ve been writing: Apparently, in my past, a lot! Meaning, I have been going through all of my writings from when I started my blog in 2012, to today, and it’s wilddddd. Some of it is on the internet. Some of it isn’t. And it’s amazing to see how much past me has been writing her little face off, for as long as she could write.

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history.

Your ideal reality. I have no idea how I stumbled on this podcast episode, but I think it was via a clip of Jim Curtis (Jennifer Aniston’s boyfriend). And if you look at the cover art you’re going to think this is a lot of woo woo. But in fact, it’s a really beautiful conversation about the stories we tell ourselves, the lies our mind keeps on repeat that keep us small and away from our dreams. I sent it to a few galpals, which is how I know that it struck a real chord with me.

Ted Lasso Szn 4. I’ve started watching the new season, and I’m not sure how I feel so far. Obviously, I love this crew of characters, and/but I’m sorta surprised they’ve taken on the gender inequities in sports. I’m not making a conclusion yet, because I don’t know where it’s all going…but so much of why I enjoyed the last seasons was because of the storylines of the players, too, so I hope they give me more about these women players!

What Gloria Steinem Taught me About Power. This debut substack Power Source by my friend Kate McAndrew, gives a lovely personal reflection on feminism, Gloria Steinem, and her approach to leadership. What does it mean to gain power? And most importantly, what does it mean and what do you do once you have it? This was a great read, by someone (Kate, but Gloria too haha) I highly respect for how she thinks about power, wealth, and how to put it to use. And then walks the walk.

Sydney Sweeney. The internet has been in uproar about the new ad from Sydney Sweeney for some sportsbetting site. And it has lit UP my group texts. I’m not going to link the ad because it is more of exactly what was intended, but I will say that I do wish is that we’d evolved past a society where we advertise to men with the idea of sex and with women’s bodies.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here’s one of mine:

I mentioned above that I found a bunch of old writings that I never shared. One of them was from 2015, and I was writing a series of “Read me whens”. This one I wrote for when you’re not feeling creative. One of my besties commented that it’s like Dr. Seuss for adults, which I LOL’d at. But after she said that, I found I had described these as lullabies so clearly she channeled what past me was doing, which future me forgot about:

Want to be more creative? Then create create create. Create big. Create small. Create crazy, and silly, and cooky and ugly. Just create.

Create because creation breeds creativity.

Create because creation is creative. And creation is active creativity.

Creativity anywhere is creativity everywhere. It is nothing like chicken and egg and everything like holographic magic.

Want to come up with cool ideas that takes your team to new heights... Or thinking on your toes when a problem arises... Or have emore vivid day dreams that lead to a more vivid reality ?

Pick up the paint. Get out your markers. Get covered in icing. Doodle their name. Go crazy on fabrics. Get your hands making. Get your brain pivoting. Go outside of the box in the easy moments. They’ll translate to the small ones.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what your interests are like. Your imagination is begging to be used. It’s screaming to be tapped. It wants you to drive a new route. It wants you to see silly connect-the-dot faces in the stars. It wants you to make. And try.

Lose your damn about the outcome so you can revel in the process. The process of tapping into your magic. The path of doing different. The journey of experience that leads you back to the sparkling jewel of your soul. Imagination.

It means not caring what it looks like. Or how good you are. It means detaching from approval and connecting to doing. Creating. Imagining.

Imagine anywhere. Anywhere it makes sense. Over a cooking pot. With a typewriter. Or a microphone and violin. An interpretive dance in your living room. Screw the work. Put up a bird to consumption. And the emails to be sent. And the laundry to be folded.

Stop taking. Taking in their energy. Reading their statuses. Viewing and comparing. Reading and wondering. Scrolling, double tapping, and liking. Give more than you take. Do that by creating, a little every day.

Create for your soul and no one else. Make love with your imagination so you can give birth to your creativity. It’s the force of magic and the ingredient you’re missing from the ability to live from the inside out.

Woman on xx