Of the moment // 12.7.18
I listened to this episode of Without Fail a few weeks ago, where Alex Blumberg has a conversation with Ron Johnson (the designer of the iconic Apple stores), and one bit of of it has really stuck with me. Ron is talking about making kindness a priority in company culture: “You know the only one who’s making a choice here is the one that chooses kindness. If you’re smart that’s a gift. If you’re a great athlete that’s a gift. Kindness is a choice.”
The reality is that I’m not always the kindest person in the world: I like things to be efficient, and done well, and to move on schedule and on par with my expectations. I can get in moods that are tough to shake. And yet, thinking about kindness as a choice the past couple of weeks has been illuminating: at a few annoying-but-not-horrible moments (flight delays! customer service problems! etc!), it’s reminded me to take a moment and be kind to the other humans in the situation. An especially nice thing to keep in mind going into the holiday season, with stressful situations of all kinds upon the horizon!
Reads
Since discovering Tana French last year, I’ve devoured all of her books and was eagerly awaiting her newest. I just finished The Witch Elm, which came out last fall, and despite some negative reviews, I really liked it! I don’t think it’s the best of hers (The Faithful Place is my favorite, FWIW), and I was a little bummed that it didn’t have the same thread of connection that her earlier books shared–but it’s a solid mystery read with a satisfying conclusion.
Eats & Drinks
We’ve had a string of rainy days in San Diego (no complaints, especially now that we have a garden!), but when we were back in our old neighborhood during a downpour, we decided to take advantage of the chilly weather: a perfect excuse for a hot bowl of ramen! We also tried a little hack that our friends recently recommended: taking Underbelly to-go, and then enjoying it next door with an IPA at Modern Times.
Words
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard
This weekend, we’re visiting my parents in Arizona! They retired outside of Phoenix earlier this year, and we’re looking forward to seeing their new life AND getting lots of snuggles with Annie.
