These Are a Few of My Favorite Links: 05/24/22

Every other week, I send an email that solely features great links for you to peruse throughout the week and weekend. Enjoy!

“Doctors Gave Her Antipsychotics. She Decided to Live With Her Voices.” — A perfect read for Mental Health Awareness Month. The dialogue around mental illness is changing before our eyes — rather than reaching any sort of conclusion, it goes to show that every single person and situation is utterly unique. (NYT)

“The YouTubers are not okay” — Making a living as a social media influencer is mentally and emotionally draining. I’m more and more glad every day that I’ve largely stepped away from using those platforms. (Vox)

“The self-help books that have changed the way we live, speak and think” — I always enjoy a scathing take-down of the modern self-help industry. This is a fun one. Reminded me of a New Yorker piece I linked to a while back called “The Case Against the Trauma Plot,” which I still think about now and then.

“What Is Life Like When We Subtract Work From It?” — Sabbaticals are common in the world of higher education and religion; they’re almost unheard of elsewhere. Which is why I was so attracted by Automattic’s sabbatical policy, which allows every employee a 3-month paid leave every 5 years. (I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: come work with me! And be sure to let me know if you ever apply.) This article gets into the (slowly) growing sabbatical movement and how beneficial it can be for employees. (The Atlantic)

“Why people hated shopping carts when they first came out” — This is so random and interesting. The history of the everyday objects around us always fascinate me.

Our latest DIY house project — We have neighbors very close to us on three sides. The back neighbors feel especially close and we often awkwardly look at each other while eating dinner. So we put up an awesome privacy wall on our porch. Ours is not free-standing like this one and it’s only one-sided (versus being a double layer of wood; wood is expensive right now!), but it’s a game-changer. To be clear, I didn’t do a darn thing: thanks to Jane for the idea and Andy for the construction. 😊

the final product on our back porch

Thanks for reading, ya’ll! I appreciate the time and inbox space.

-Jeremy