Sunday Smörgåsbord #066
Does creativity cure anxiety? Plus: teenagers terrified to make phone calls, and millionaires having existential crises.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
In two Sunday’s time I will be preparing to return to work. Eleven weeks of my Sabbatical have already gone in a flash. In the blink of an eye I will be back in my ‘office’, trying to work out who I am and what I do for a living (sorry in advance, colleagues, for all the questions those first couple of days back…)
I feel so lucky to have been gifted this special time to focus on, to all intents and purposes, me, myself and I. I’m very aware most people do not get this opportunity and, even if they do, they often have others to dote on during this time. I don’t take it for granted. Which is why I’m super proud to have hit 50,000 words on Friday, leaving only 10,000 more words to squeeze out to reach my Sabbatical goal of 60,000.
Could I have pushed myself to finish the first draft in these same ninety days? (c.80k words). Unequivocally, yes. These last weeks, with the finish line looming closer, I’ve ramped up my daily target to two thousand words a day, and whilst I wouldn’t say many (in some cases, any) of them are stellar, I am chugging on towards the end of act two, and realising I could-have-should-have-maybe-have done this sooner…
But I’m trying not to beat myself up too much. If one core goal for this Sabbatical was to write a first draft, the other was to loosen up and enjoy life as much as possible, taking each most as they come, breaking free from a packed diary. Think: a Spanish omelette for lunch just because, lazy Thursday lie-ins with a good book, and watching films in the bath in the middle of the day.
At times it’s been like living in a Garry Marshall film, a theme I hope to continue in these last two weeks. Thank you for all the kind messages cheering me on.
Emma x
PS - I’ve also used some of this time to launch the Sixty-Minute Book Club, a reading group for short stories. If you made reading more one of your 2025 goals, we’d love to help you in a low-pressure, welcoming environment. Any questions, feel free to comment or DM me.
🍳 Recent servings, in case you missed them…
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📰 Features & Podcasts
NB: [PW] signifies a paywall, though some providers allow you to read a set number of articles for free.
‘The anxiety secret: how the world’s leading life coach stopped living in fear’, The Guardian. It feels like anxiety and depression are on the rise (I’m not surprised, have you read the news lately?) So I read this interview with Martha Beck with interest. Beck’s new book is about using creativity as an antidote to anxiety and though I am only one person, I think she may be onto something. I wonder whether creativity allows you to reach flow state more often than not (which surely distracts your brain from ruminating on negative thought patterns)? I’ve also found myself via my fitness tracker that when I write, my heart rate plummets. What do you think, do you think creativity can work against anxiety?
“My day helping the teenagers too terrified to make a phone call”, The Times. Speaking of anxiety, I found this article about helping Gen Z teenagers learn (and practice) how to make a phone call absolutely fascinating. What really stood out to me is how all the teenagers associated a ringing phone with negativity: “it could be a doctor ringing with bad news”— the level of dread is that strong! Though it’s tempting to just roll your eyes and call them snowflakes, it’s obvious they feel visceral fear about what is still a very basic task for most of us. By the end I found myself rooting for them, especially the volunteer who offered to make a call in front of the whole class.
“I am rich and have no idea what to do with my life”, Vinay.Sh. Vinay Hiremath was the CTO of Loom until he sold it to Atlassian for $975m. He’s now learning physics in the jungle and having an existential crisis about what to do with his life. This was his revealing post on the topic of what to do when you earn so much money you never have to work again. I know— it’s hard to have much sympathy when the world is literally on fire all around us. But I still think his blog offers an interesting and lesser-seen insight of something that happens to many of us only on retirement: what do you do when you don’t have to do anything at all?
“My one-night stands mean my partner refuses to marry me", The Guardian. On first read your thoughts might be similar to mine— that is: ‘No shit, Sherlock”, but on closer reading I found this a really interesting read, for the empathetic and helpful response as much as the problem. When you see psychotherapy in action like this I feel something just ‘click’ in my brain, removing all other options until the only way out is through. Hopefully the original letter-writer feels the same!
🎨 Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Of Women and Salt, Gabriela Garcia (2021). I was recommend to read this as a potential comparison title for my own novel-in-progress. Evocative and richly-written, this debut work tells the stories of a long line of Cuban and Cuban-American women, interwoven in the present day with that of another woman and her daughter who have entered the United States illegally from El Salvador. I thought it was clever how Garcia honed in on just a few stories from each woman’s life to show how the trauma of revolution and migration is passed on, but also to show the family narratives that are built in (or on top of) the gaps in between. Her approach has given me food for thought for my own structure (but first I have to finish Draft One…)
Civil War, dir. Alex Garland (2024). I was really looking forward to watching this after reading so many positive reviews, not least because Kirsten Dunst was one of the biggest actresses of my childhood. As usual, she impresses, and so do the rest of the cast. Unfortunately not enough to make me love this film. Whilst it asks eye-wateringly pertinent questions about what may happen if Civil War erupted in the States today, and the importance of journalism in being a passive documenter, it felt confusingly muddled throughout except when it was gratuitously violent.
‘The Lottery’, Shirley Jackson (1948). In the first installment of the Sixty Minute Book Club we are reading this stalwart of the genre. I’ve read it many times, and still it shocks me. If you’re thinking of how to fit more reading into your life, our short story book club is a great place to start. The chat discussion is already buzzing, and we’ll have a live call on 28 January. For more details here’s the post on story number one.
📺 What have you seen lately that’s worth a read, watch or listen? Let me know in the comments.
📝 Substacks
‘The Traitors’, Agatha Christie, and The Kierkegaard Edit - Gralefrit
This was a very useful piece for me given I’m writing my first novel (don’t you know. Don’t answer that, I know I’m banging on about it a lot today). I don’t want to go into it too much as it’s a very tightly-written piece packed with insight and value, but to summarise: when Maria Von Trapp sang ‘let’s start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start’, she may have been getting things back to front.
That’s it for this week. I hope you find something in this list that sparks joy or curiosity.
If you’ve got any recommendations on articles, podcasts, Substacks or shows for me to dive into, please drop them in the comments. Until next time!
❤️ Thank you for reading. If you liked this post don’t forget to hit the heart to let me know and help others find my writing.
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Thanks Emma...I may not be a multi millionaire but the not knowing what to do with life post a business sale still resonates for me. Life transitions are difficult, even if they present as very first world problems.
Hope the return to work goes well, and most importantly, your draft is in good shape :-)x