Week 42, 2025 — Beautiful, glorious leaves

This week was a pleasant blend of quiet time and catching up with friends. I’m realizing it’s a pattern—the first week after I’m back from travel, I like to recharge at home, and the week after that, I’ll start going out again. It was the “second” week, so it makes sense that I was able to go on four outings with friends, catch up on some errands, and go for a ride.

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One highlight: I was able to send out a Postcard and spent some time tracing what it took to get there. I don’t feel bad about the frequency of my personal newsletter but I do wish I felt more at ease with writing and sending them. The past few months of these Weeknotes was a slow onramp that led to new energy for writing. The kick I needed was Anne Lamot: “First, stop NOT writing.” I read that on her brand-new Substack (!!) and thought, huh okay. Simple as that.

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Another highlight was finishing the Hilma af Klint biography. I had only known of af Klint’s work in isolation, and hadn’t realized the extent to which her spiritualism could be contextualized to a broader set of religious and philosophical movements in the West. The links to Rudolf Steiner, for example. I would like to deepen my understanding of Western esotericism… maybe this encounter is a continuation of my interest in the Cathars in the last few years!

I also skimmed a non-fiction book on Life Admin. Begrudgingly, as I used it as a forcing function to grapple with the topic long enough to find perspectives that would help me overcome a lifetime of being allergic to it. Which I am tired of. The book was helpful to normalize some of my behavior patterns, and recognize that my privileges and life circumstances are such that I am shielded from what could be much heavier burdens and consequences. I’m going to work on a new identity in relation to Life Admin.

Oh, I also read (“read”) the manga version of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I meant it to be a refresher but actually I’m not sure if I read this one. I must have started with Getting Naked. That was the first business book that I actually connected with. I wish there were more business fable manga in English. It’s an established category in Japanese non-fiction.

Binge-watched the third season of The Diplomat, too. Alright that was a LOT of reading and watching, made possible by sleeping less and not exercising at all. Will shoot for a better balance next week…