The Sunniest Spot in the Garden
Picnic Journal Issue #6
Hello everyone! This week was a particularly bleak week on multiple levels. If you’re feeling the bleakness and helplessness of it all, this newsletter won’t help. I hope that you are making the necessary time for yourself that is needed to recover from such weeks. I also hope that you don’t get too stressed out over things that don’t need to be stressed-out-about. That’s just a waste of time. I won’t summarise the chaos that was last week, but I’m hoping we can all acknowledge that our collective sadness felt from reading world news and suffering through personal crises is a sign that we are not psychopaths. Cool. Let’s do it, episode 6. Welcome aboard.
Here is a list of four things I spent a lot of time thinking about this week:
We’re all just cute little plants trying to grow, make better decisions and reach the sunniest spot in the garden.
Be kind and gentle - it’s not hard. Actually, it is hard, that’s how we ended up with so many garbage people.
A daily and recurring thought: ‘Hmmm should I leave my house today?’
Just buy that thing that will make your life a little better. Who cares? Spend that $3 on an extra coffee that will get you through to the end of the day.
Weekly Doodle
Hobby Life Crisis
These days I am feeling kind of conflicted by the number of hobbies I currently have. On the one hand, I love drawing, blogging and making videos - taking photos, blah blah insert all of my other hobbies here. But on the other hand, I know that to be good at any one of these things, I need to choose a medium and stick to it to develop my style and voice…. But I can’t choose. I’m a bit stuck and that’s okay. I will sit with this for a while and see where I land. Here is an unrelated illustration I did for my personal website. If you can relate to this, let’s chat about it on Twitter.
What I watched this week
Hanabira工房 on YouTube
This week I had a particularly obsessive moment with this YouTuber who makes tiny homes and cafes and films it for the internet. I have found a few kits on Amazon that you can buy and make yourself… and I think this could be the beginning of yet another hobby. This video is the first one that I watched that set off the whole obsession and I am hooked. Please share any channels with me who fall under this realm of miniature, model making or DIY.
Johnny Harris on YouTube
I’m a long-time fan and subscriber of Johnny Harris and his content never ceases to disappoint. The detail he puts into his videos to teach his audience things we never thought we needed to know… it’s amazing. His obsession with maps and travel and history is admirable and I hope to achieve this level of dedication to something one day. I just don’t know what it is yet. But this isn’t about me, go and check out his channel for your own eyeballs.
Who I follow on IG to stay informed about the world and what is happening to other humans:
Who I follow on IG to help me stay sane during the workday:
The ALBUM I can’t stop listening to:
Ben Platt - Reverie Album Release Performance
Oh my gosh, I somehow missed the live stream of Ben Platt performing his new album on YouTube but I made up for that by watching it three times in a row. Amazing. Ben Platt is such a talented musician and all of the music he has made during the pandemic has been so powerful. Go Ben Platt!
Ben Platt - Happy To Be Sad
This is my favourite song from the ‘Reverie’ album. In the live performance above, Ben explained that he wrote this song after his boyfriend moved to Canada for a new job. He felt so empowered and grateful to feel so sad that someone was moving away from him. As someone who has come out the other end of a long-distance relationship, this one reminded me of all the times I cried in airports after saying goodbye to my now-husband!
Goals for This Week
We’re too poor to buy cheap things
It’s something I’ve been putting off for about 8 months but it is time to pick up my budgeting habits again. I was doing so well from September 2020 to around March this year. Wedding preparations made me throw all financial sensibility out the window. There were just so many unexpected costs that kept popping up which played a large role in my negligence for budgeting. I am ready. It’s time. A new job means new financial goals and our living situation means I can re-assess my monthly limits. Let’s do it! I may even make a video about it and put it on the internet but let’s not get crazy!
Thank you for reading. Have a great week and don’t forget to vacuum that awkward part underneath your chargers, cables, routers, and secrets.
PS: I’m sorry for such a bleak edition of Picnic in Your Pocket and will endeavour to make it more exciting next week!
Keep in Touch
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