September 2024 Resources and Recommendations
Cultivating your style, codependency, and the problem with main character syndrome
I recently got back from the West Coast part of my book tour for BUT WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? and I had such a blast meeting so many of you in Seattle, LA, SF, and Palo Alto. If you missed it and live in those cities, you can find signed copies at Elliott Bay, Book Passage in Corte Madera, and Reparations Club in LA!
I got to meet so many of you in real life! Stay tuned for more events to come.
CW: Suicide
September held Suicide Prevention Day, and I want to remind each of you that talking about suicide is not shameful no matter what we are conditioned to believe. We must normalize talking about mental health struggles, anxiety, stress, depression, mental illness, and feelings of hopelessness. It may feel uncomfortable but it can foster connection and save a life. Normalize it in your relationships, in religious spaces, at work, and even with your barista.
Also know that not everyone has the luxury of access to positive and healthy coping skills. Ultimately, suicide prevention is rooted in decreasing systemic and institutional inequities, increasing access to care, basic needs, and stability and dismantling cultural and social stigma.
Here are community-based resources for support that don’t call the police.
Depression and anxiety often exist together for many, so here’s a post I really liked about focusing on what you can control:
What I’ve read and watched
Why did I wait so long to read Pachinko?!!? Ya’ll didn’t tell me that I had to read it ASAP and I read the 600 page book in a week because I truly couldn’t get enough. It’s one of the best representations of the most acute tensions we feel in our racial identity ever and I loved it.
I also watched Didi and it was so good. And I am almost done with The Perfect Couple. I loved the book and the show is good enough but man, all of these book to movie/show translations are just reminders that the book is always better. Is there a movie/show that was better than the book? Let me know in the comments or replies!
Other things I found fascinating:
This woman went on a solo trip as her bachelorette party and I love this! This is such a wholesome and needed story and reminder about intersectional allyship.
I loved this quick breakdown of what it really means to be in a codependent relationship. Listen/read with a grain of salt as culture isn’t totally infused into this conversation but it’s a good explainer nonetheless. And I appreciated this hot take on why main character syndrome is philosophically dangerous.
I loved this reminder of how you can get together with friends and gather in community without it feeling like another thing on your to-do list.
I loved this graphic on how to cultivate your own style. I don’t feel like the most fashionable person but I have been trying to be more mindful of styling versus just wearing my clothes — and generally being honest about what I feel good in rather than what looks good on others. I am also doing more of buying the basics rather than what’s on trend. It’s hard but I am trying to be mindful!
What have you been reading, watching, listening to?
See you next week for October theme of “Late Blooming”