Do you ever have those tasks that seem to take up permanent residence on your to-do list, despite the fact that they will likely take you far less time than you’ve anticipated? Maybe you’re likely to delay trips to the post office, or you have been meaning to return this one thing you borrowed from that person one time, and you’re filled with dread whenever you contemplate completing it? Yeah, me too. So much so that I put it on this list so that I absolutely must practice what I preach. Public accountability. If you complete one of those tasks this weekend, or in this coming week – send me an email at christina@cactuscancer.org. I’ll send the equivalent of digital (read: mess-free) confetti your way!
Eat: This is a quick suggestion that’s less about eating and what to eat and more about after you eat. I have a habit of cooking spiced food, and while I love the smell while it’s cooking, it’s definitely not my favorite when I can catch a whiff of it the next morning. So instead of having *Eau de Carrot and Chickpea Korma* hang around until the next day, I picked up a tip from everyone’s favorite Grandma and social media influencer, Babs. She suggested leaving a small bowl with a bit of vinegar out, and bam! It was a major help. I put it out right after I was done cooking dinner and left it in my kitchen until the next morning when I simply dumped it in the sink. Super easy.
See: I am writing this challenge here so that I can be held accountable and complete this task myself. I have a memory card that’s been hanging out in my camera for… years now… and I still haven’t printed any of the photos I took on my September 2021 Road Trip to the Midwest. I don’t need to keep all of them, but they’re for sure not serving me by living on that memory card. My plan? To make prints of my favorites to hang in my apartment, get doubles for friends, and delete the duplicates.
Do: Back when I moved to New York City for graduate school and I felt homesick, I would fall asleep to the sounds of a local radio station from Philly, played via a podcast app. It helped muffle the natural street sounds and helped me transition from undergrad, where everything was noisy anyway. (When I’d go home for holidays, the silence would keep me up.) So this leads me to what I listen to now: cozy audiobooks for sleep. I’ve read and watched many versions of Little Women before, and so that became my sleeping book of choice. Now I’ve got my all-time favorite book of all time (but please don’t make me choose for real because they’re like my children), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – this time, read to me as a bedtime story. Pick one that’s a good fit for you: one that you’ve read before, that isn’t a thriller (unless that’s your thing, and I see you, Dateline fan), and is readily available as an audiobook from the library or on your phone. Then allow yourself to fall into deep bliss.
Have an odorless, photogenic, soothing audio-filled weekend,
Christina
