Hello,
(Illustration from Felicia Chiao)
Enter week five of lockdown.
One of the things that have surprised me most about working from home is how I’ve been able to switch off from work so easily. I change out of my clothes and get into my sweats and then that’s it, I’ve fully logged off.
The simple act of changing out of my clothes certainly helps create boundaries. But mainly, the global crisis has given me permission to take a step back and prioritise taking care of myself. It’s also helped put things into perspective – do I need to get all of this done tonight? The answer is no, almost all of the time.
I saw this tweet that said, “You are not working from home; you are at your home during a crisis trying to work.”
In a “hustle” culture, it’s easy to fall into the trap of needing to do more. Oh, you’re at home, you should be writing a novel or you should be reading a book every two days.
Not at all. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it is totally OK to do nothing / do things out of pure enjoyment.
Now, moving on to this week’s top five reads:
Have you noticed that when you describe an object, the adjectives have to follow a particular order?
E.g. I bought a large eighty-year-old round oak dining table.
Now see what happens if I change the order:
E.g. I bought a round oak large eighty-year-old dining table.
Eeek. This comes naturally for Native English speakers, but for non-English speakers, this grammar rule is pretty baffling.
I know I'm massively late to the party – please spare me the lecture, but I've just started watching Killing Eve. Yes, it's brilliant. Yes, I should have watched it sooner. Yes, I know the new season is out.
Anyway, the question that popped into my head is, can psychopaths fall in love? According to this source, yes. But unlike the average person who might consider their partner's needs before themselves, psychopaths have to do it in a much more deliberate way.
Another interesting thing about psychopathy is how it exists on a scale, just like how some people experience mild depression while others experience more severe depression.
The word from Wuhan. This piece chronicles how misinformation and disinformation took over the province, how local governments had to be temporarily replaced to better manage the pandemic, and how frontline workers are the real MVPs in this crisis.
Frontline medics are working under extreme physical and mental pressure. They wear adult nappies so they don’t have to waste time taking their biohazard suits on and off when they go to the loo.
If you work in marketing/advertising, this trend is worth taking note of – people are actively looking for good news more than ever. Google searches for 'good news' have spiked and publications like National Geographic and The Washington Post have created newsletters that only highlight positive stories. People are looking for balance and escapism, and I think this gives brands permission to create content that is tonally lighter and more optimistic.
Police patrols, fines and drones. Cities have taken different measures to enforce their stay home policies, but none has been as creative as this village in Indonesia. Volunteers in the community are dressing up as 'ghosts' from popular folklore to scare people back into their homes.
Growing up with these tales, I can confirm that 'pocong' are the stuff of childhood (and adult) nightmares. Thanks Katee for sharing this one!
Peace out ✌️,
B