Observables #48

on time, Parallel Mothers and epic science fiction

This.

A time management book of sorts, but one that steers the reader away from those early morning routines which teach us to fit in more. Instead the author leans in to the idea of our human limits and embracing our finite time on earth. Maybe we don’t need to do more. Maybe we could even look at time as something to enjoy rather than always aiming for more productivity.

I loved his concept of “cosmic insignificance therapy.” We are just wisps, tufts of a poplar tree drifting across a farm field! We think (what psychologists call “egocentricity bias”) that we are the most important thing, but if we could embrace that idea that we are historically less important, it actually takes the pressure off.

This from an interview with John Waters:

I wake up every day, and I have to tell a story somehow. I constantly eavesdrop, ask people questions, drive people crazy, because I always want to know what they feel, and that’s what you have to be if you’re going to be a writer.

Yes, John. Copy that.

This tweet. (Nat does most of the tweeting for the Reframeables podcast and engages in the best conversations! If you’re in that space, join us!)

MISS SUBER. @misssuber

I think more people should explore the possibility that other people are not thinking about them. At all.

Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers: two single mothers give birth at the same time leading to friendship, then confusion, then entanglement. The movie has all of Almodovar’s signature humour, colour palate and the inimitable Penélope Cruz. Also, I note that he is obsessed with mothers. I bless him for that. Too often we don’t get any attention for the work we do.

My mother stayed with the girls while we galavanted in Lisbon this past week. I think she’ll be recovering for a month from a return to those specific domestic duties that is mothering, aka nurturing little souls, aka making all the SNACKS. When I got home she said, “I don’t know how you get any writing done!” Long nods of the head.

Oh, and Dune. Everybody in my family gasped when they heard I had watched Dune. You? Dune? Are you ill, child? Up until now I haven’t watched much fantasy. I had to be dragged to Lord of the Rings. But I am changing, folks, as per this quotation:

People change and forget to tell each other. (Lillian Hellman, playwright)

Well, I’m telling everybody: I now like epic science fiction films.

A Portuguese shirt made with love.

In other news, this week on Reframeables we talk to Indigenous healer Asha Frost. Episode drops tomorrow. It’s a good one!