👟👠 Brain dump of stuff....(#39)

Hi !  Welcome back. Hope you are on a break . This week I am thinking (and writing) about airports, Youtube videos, quitting and life choices . If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can join here or by clicking the button below. - Eve D.❣️

WEEK IN REVIEW

Ha! I am officially on holiday. Caught a 6am flight, landed a couple of hours later in what seems to be a different world. Now - due to logistics - I wait for about 3 hours until G picks me up and we drive to our final destination. So that’s how long you have me 😂 .

Our Christmas was wonderful, and I do hope yours was too. We ate superbly well, I connected with friends and family around the world (always such a pleasure…why do I wait for big holidays to reach out??), and Santa outdid himself.

I love the down time between Christmas and New Years. What day is it? Who cares? This is the time to do absolutely nothing, and I lived up to the challenge. It’s the closest we can come to the Covid standstill, but without the lockdown. I had high hopes for “catching up” in December, but I’ve thrown those out the window. I’m tired, and I’m resting.

This is the last newsletter of the year. How has 2024 treated you? Mine was very good to me, or as good as it could be. I can sense the transition to new things, and 2024 introduced that gently. 2025 is going to be a riot, and I need to sit back and think carefully how I want to direct this new phase of my life. I feel like I am on the precipice of something and I need to decide where and how I am going to take the leap. Interesting times, and not in the Chinese cursed sort of way. (At least I hope not).

BRAIN DUMP

OK, since it’s the end of the year, and I have less than 3 hours before G arrives, I am just going to go through all my bookmarks, and post a collection of things that have caught my eye. Books, shows, movies, articles, quotes, images, podcasts. Let’s see what we end up with.

Random travel thoughts:

• Airport food shops are overpriced, which I would be willing to forgive if the food they served was good. I bought an almond croissant to go, and I promise you if I blindfolded you you wouldn’t know what you were eating. Yuck.

• I haven’t been on a plane since a week before Covid shut down the world, and …I now remember why, and I also understand why people fly private. All the waiting, all the lines, all the people. Yuck.

• I used to be a master packer. I could easily pull off a ten day trip with hand luggage alone. I seem to have lost that skill! I also wish there was an easy way to pack a wide brimmed hat, because I have five of them, but never an occasion to wear any.

• I took an Uber from the airport to this coffee shop, about a 5 minute ride, and I kid you not….it cost me less than a dollar! Even by South African standards, that is ridiculously cheap. There is no way the poor driver made any money off that trip (I did tip him well, to make up for it). This gig economy (and the air bnb economy) is exploitative.

LEMONS MAKE LEMONADE 

I love this story: Govan Brown was a New York City busdriver for over 20 years, and he made his job count. He decided that his purpose would be far greater than just getting people from point A to point B. He would make every passenger’s day, every day. One passenger remembers “he carried on an entertaining monologue, commenting on places as the bus passed by. He alerted us to sales going on, told us a bit of the history of buildings and stores, offered reviews of films playing at theaters whizzing by, and suggested we visit exhibits at nearby museums”.

People got on the bus in a surly mood, but got off the bus with a smile on their face.When he retired, the City received three thousand letters from his passengers, all saying what a great bus driver he was.

We have a choice how we deal with the lemons that life gives us. Some would consider a busdriver’s job tedious and tiring, others can see it as an opportunity to impact the lives of thousands of people.

Can you imagine how different the people who live with these each of these balconies are?

LOVE THYSELF

This, below, makes perfect sense to me. This is why families can be so dysfunctional but still stay committed to the familial bond. We have to learn to love ourselves before we can hope to have healthy relationships. I also think this is very difficult to do, btw. But crucial.

YOUTUBE EPISODES / CHANNELS

These are the channels I go back to again and again. Maybe you will find something that you enjoy.

Ocean Conservation Namibia

This channel posts very short videos of a team of volunteers rescuing seals from the effects of ocean pollution. It’s heartbreaking but also exhilarating to see their work. I love a good animal rescue story, and this channel delivers time and again.

JENNA PHIPPS

Jenna and her boyfriend bought a glorious but totally decrepit house in Canada, and are rebuilding it themselves. And when I say themselves, I mean themselves. They do 98% of the work, including demolishing, putting up walls and roof, clearing garden, etc. Due to various problems they had to basically take down the whole house and rebuild it from scratch, which was an unexpected hurdle for them, but great content for me! The vidoes are gentle…you can spend 20 minutes watching them build a wall, but they are well edited and oddly soothing. I love them. She posts once a week.

MAX AND OCCY 

Max is an Australian living on a glorious piece of land that he recently bought, and Occy is his divine dog. Both of them are beautiful souls, actually, and this channel is like having a catchup with an old friend who is chatting to you via Zoom (while also building out a bathroom). Once again, just a gentle way to finish out the week for me, since Max usually posts on a Sunday. (Side story: Max used to to have a channel with his girlfriend, who was very loved by the Youtube community. They broke up, amicably, and went their separate ways. Lee then ended her life a year or so later, which devastated Max. He has slowly recovered, and is now dating again (we met the new girlfriend in last weeks video).

WHEN TO JUST GIVE UP 

We are always told (by stupid Instagram inspirational quotes) to carry on, persevere, never give up etc etc. But sometimes, giving up, walking away is exactly the right thing to do. This article will make you think twice about the stuff you are working on, and your relationships. (Link to free-to-read version)

“When should you give up? You certainly don’t want to give up too soon ...you don’t want to give up on your dreams before they’re realized, or on your relationships because they’re sometimes troublesome; you want to be a reliable, determined, heroic individual—someone with grit, who follows through. But, also, persevering can be a grave mistake: sometimes, either actually or metaphorically, you need to admit that you’re lost and call for rescue. How much effort is enough? And when does continued effort become unwise?”

Also pair it with “Quit your job”. Another great, long, read. Maybe just the kind of thing you need as you contemplate 2025.

FREE THERAPY

MIND YOUR WORDS

I can literally hear my kids laughing at this, and at me. This is exactly the kind of thing that would come out my mouth when they speak to me, even about very grave matters. 😂 

FREE THERAPY 2

MOVIES AND SHOWS 

I watched a Christmas movie this week (by myself), recommended by Laura “ Your Christmas or Mine”. It was cute. If I had all the time I thought I’d have to enjoy shows at the end of the year, I’d be watching: Breaking Bad, Killing Eve, Silo, Shrinking and Palm Royale.

If you want to watch Wicked but do not want to spend 3 + hours in a movie theatre: good news! It’s launching on streaming services on 31 December.

OK, I’m off to enjoy my holiday. I’ll still see you next week though, where I will hopefully have lots of photos of sandy beaches and cocktails in hand.

Thanks for reading!

That’s it for this week. (Want more? You can find past editions here). I hope you have a great weekend and upcoming week. Please keep sharing /forwarding to your friends/groups 😄 . You can also email me privately by hitting reply on this email.

PS