The Best Things I've Seen on the Internet Lately: top picks and fave finds
Some Good Articles
Listen, I am dubious, but the article claims manifesting IS science-based. All I know, is years ago I did the Artists Way (how have I not written a post on THAT?) and I found it very helpful and started writing Honeybee Emeralds as a result.
One of the things that AW advised was creating a vision board, which I kind of sneered at, but that book was having me do a series of kind of weird woo woo things, including journaling about my feelings and pondering my childhood so it was PRETTY out there… Also, in this age of People.com does anyone even have magazines lying around to cut up?
Anyway, I did the vision board and I had all sorts of things I loved on it — swimming in nature, family, cocaine (ha ha, checking to see if you’re paying attention) and images of writing success. Two years later I got a “yes” from a publisher, so maybe manifesting helped? Or maybe I’d just become a better writer after working on it for twenty years?
Yes It’s Possible to Manifest Something. Here are Six Methods to Try
Contrary to what social media may have you believe, manifestation doesn’t just mean having good vibes or always keeping a positive attitude. You have to work towards your manifestations. If you’re simply waiting around for something to happen to you but all your actions and attitudes stay exactly the same… you’ll be waiting a long time. So, what can you do?
A story of a middle-aged obsessive zeroing in a weird bird-related thing? Yes please! This is a good one!
The Curious Case of the Pygmy Nuthatch
There is nothing quite like becoming birdpilled. I am not a halfway kind of person: When I got into movies, I turned thinking about movies into my job. When I got into running, it wasn’t long until I was running a half-marathon every weekend. So I know what it’s like to become obsessed—and to start seeing your new obsession everywhere.
But during lockdown, I, like a lot of people, gradually became obsessed with birds—and it turns out that, with birds, they really are everywhere. They’re fluttering outside your window when you’re supposed to be working. They’re singing nearby when you’re supposed to be sleeping. They’re soaring overhead when you’re supposed to be paying attention to oncoming traffic.
Have you had this experience? Read or watched a scene and have it hit so hard emotionally that it becomes like you lived it? This is an oldie, but I remember watching the episode of Quantum Leap where Sam sings John Lennon’s Imagine, and I was devastated by the beauty and sadness of the song and its implications for the show’s character.
When Memories from Fiction Become Part of Who You Are
Increasingly, psychologists are realising that memories of fictional stories can serve similar functions. Although the story is not based on reality, the experience of the story makes it real. Consonant with this view, a study from 2017 showed that the themes that people consider most important in their lives align with the fictional stories that they say most resonate with them, and the stories they choose to engage with also frequently mirror their identity.
Here’s the link to that moment in Quantum Leap in case, like me, you flipping loved that 30 year old show…
Reels
(Warning, when you click, you’re taken to Instagram)
Okay I didn’t have this EXACT conversation, but I do remember in my first year of working at the Archives, looking around in May and thinking, “we’re gonna wrap this up soon, right?”
Please forgive me for inserting this ear worm into your head, but if I’m going to go around all day humming it, so are you!
It’s the rusty bowflex
Might be doing a Derry Girls rewatch based on this alone
I’ve been thinking about this more and more lately… There’s this trend in therapy and sort of general culture to have excellent boundaries and remove yourself from any situation that makes you annoyed/uncomfortable/challenged and I definitely do it, but in fact part of having a community is rubbing into annoying people and dealing with them and managing the bits you don’t like so you can enjoy the parts that you do.
P.S. My beloved article-saving app on the internet — Pocket, is shutting down in July. I am devastated. I wrote a post about how much I love Pocket. It’s a wonderful, handy tool.
Does anyone have any recommendations to replace it? The good and well-balanced people of Reddit have suggested Raindrop and/or GoodLinks, but I trust Méli-Méloers more! Lemme know what you use to save articles you find on the interwebs, please!
I'm also sad about the end of Pocket! I use it all the time and would love to know a good replacement too. (And the memories story is just the kind of thing I'd save to Pocket to read later :))