Guess what, Friday Fivers? We surpassed 12,000 subscribers to this email newsletter earlier this week. I thought it'd be fun to celebrate with all of you, so if you'd like to enter a little raffle, scroll to the bottom, and I'll pick 3 using a random wheel of names. I'll send the 3 winners each a book of your choice from a local bookstore. How fun. We'll do it again when we reach 13k! I love a good community tradition, don't you?
Let's get to your Friday Five.
Shingles. More and more of my friends who are under the age of 50 have been getting shingles lately. And it's not just my friends - it's a public health trend. It's an awful illness if you've heard, and I'd very much like to avoid it. So after a friend (hi Sarah!) a few years younger than me shared that she has been down and out for weeks with a serious case of shingles, I decided I wanted to explore whether I could get a vaccine despite not yet being at the recommended age (here in the US, the shingles vaccine is recommended at age 50, or earlier if you're immunocomprimised). My insurance wouldn't cover it when I asked (because of my "young" age), so I went to a local pharmacy (CVS) and paid out of pocket for it. I'm thrilled to be protected from that unnecessary nonsense. It might be worth considering for you, too - anyone who had chicken pox as a child is at risk of shingles.
Ramadan. Observant Muslims will celebrate Ramadan starting tonight through the end of March. If you have Muslim friends or colleagues, here's a good round-up of what to know about the holiday, how to support those folks, and what the holiday is all about.
A US news source I'm really appreciating. I got recommendations from multiple folks I trust earlier this year that Tangle was a good balanced place to get news from. I signed up for their free emails and I very much agree. Every day they give a quick paragraph about 5 key news stories of the day, then they talk in-depth about a bigger story. For that story, they share what people on the left and right are saying about the news and then share an opinion piece related to that news story. I'm finding that it really helps ensure that I get a grounded perspective of what's happening - what's truly alarming (a lot more than I'd like), what's less so, and what reasonable folks are saying about the issues of the day. You can read their pieces on their website or get an email each day (it's free, with additional weekly content for folks who pay).
Speedy Meetings. In Joyfully Managed Worklife this week, the group was problem-solving for how difficult it is to get on top of work when you're drowning in meetings. The "speedy meeting" setting of Google Calendar (find it here) will default your meetings to 25 and 50 minutes instead of 30 and 60, which you can override when needed but will probably help you find some minutes to breathe between meetings. Here's how to do it in Outlook.
The Arrival Fallacy. We've all fallen victim to The Arrival Fallacy—the misconception that achieving a particular goal will bring lasting happiness. This looks like sacrificing your well-being, thinking, "once this is done I'll finally take care of myself," but looking back at three years of false deadlines ("when we move," "when we get a nanny," "once the retreat ends"), I see the pattern. This fallacy forces us to live in the future, postponing happiness while wrongly believing satisfaction awaits at the finish line. The remedy? Make room for well-being now—today. Rest and energizing activities should be non-negotiables, just flexible ones: full workouts on light weeks, quick 15-minute sessions during busy times. Life isn't a race but a house—the only one you have. It will never be the perfect time for maintenance, but keeping it in good shape is easier than rebuilding after collapse.
Enter here and I'll randomly pick 3 of you and buy a book of your choice to celebrate 13k Friday Five subscribers!
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