A positive wintertime mind-set
2021 is off to a rocky start. Plus, an overview of that new virus strain; making the most of winter; and what to watch for MLK Day.
I started and stopped versions of this issue multiple times since the New Year, and honestly with everything going on as 2021 gets underway, I just wasn’t in a place to send anything of substance until now. Like so many, I’ve been glued to the news, watching as this transition of power is anything but peaceful and just praying for January 20 to arrive sooner rather than later. Now, with the inauguration just a few days away, I’m feeling like I can circle back to things like movies and recipes and popular internet memes, etc.
Aside from presidential impeachments and militant insurrections, the year has started off quite well for me. I was able to ring it in with two dear friends down state; we didn’t leave the house the entire weekend but never ran out of things to do. And there was cake! I love this recipe for a funfetti cake, and this home baker’s heart swelled with pride when I realized I already had everything I needed in my pantry to make it for the holiday. You’ve truly arrived as a baker when you can just decide to make a cake — et voila! — there one is just a few hours later, no trip to the store required.
How is your year starting? I’m not big on resolutions or broad, sweeping life changes—far too much pressure in all of that. Instead, I’m making small decisions here and there to tweak my days for the better. Simply put, my goal is to be able to go to bed each night happy with how I’ve spent my time, and I find a bit of structure and some healthy prioritization can really help me get there. Will share more on how I go about all of it in future issues, I’m sure.
Stay Informed
Since getting back from a brief (and isolated!) visit with close friends over two weeks ago, I can count on one hand the number of places I’ve visited outside my apartment. I’m thrilled every time I see friends and loved ones receiving their vaccine shots, but as I’m not an essential worker and am relatively young and healthy, I don’t anticipate being eligible myself for months. So for the time being, my lockdown looks much the same as it did in 2020, particularly as we learn about the more infectious strain of the virus making its way across the country.
I found this article from Vox an informative overview on the new strain as well as a thoughtful look at what it means for our daily lives. I admit that for several months last year I didn’t worry about the odd trip to the grocery store or Target; I didn’t dilly-dally, but I didn’t fret if I needed to pop in for milk or laundry detergent or what-have-you. With the news about this new strain, I find myself rethinking that strategy to keep myself and the few people I do see as safe as possible: fewer (if any) non-essential errands and always double-masked (a medical one and a cloth one) when I do go out into the world.
And for something a bit more light-hearted, I offer a very valuable investigation into the dreadful shortage of…bucatini.
Stay Warm
It’s been such a mild winter in Chicago so far that much of the dread about being stuck inside that I lived with late last year hasn’t come to pass. There’s been hardly any snow and temps have held steady in the 30s and 40s, meaning with just a bit of extra bundling up, I can still enjoy afternoon walks when my schedule allows.
January has seen more snow and colder temps, to be sure, but I’m still willing to keep up my routines during the freeze. After all, plenty of people in much colder, much darker regions of the world deal with much deeper winters than the Midwest, and they get by just fine. An article about just this phenomenon helped shift my perspective recently, and it might be helpful to you, too, if you’re struggling with the added isolation of chilly winter days.
Having a positive wintertime mind-set doesn’t mean denying the realities of winter or pretending you like every aspect of winter. When it snows, it’s equally true that you might have to shovel your driveway as it is that the light is diffuse and beautiful. But which one of these you pay more attention to makes a huge difference in how you experience that snowfall.
Stay Entertained
I have been using every megaphone I have to encourage everyone I know to seek out and experience One Night In Miami… at the first opportunity you get. Directed by Regina King, the film is based on a play by Kemp Powers which itself is based on the night in February, 1964 when Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke gathered at a hotel in Miami to celebrate Clay’s unexpected win over Sonny Liston. Though we can’t know all that this powerhouse foursome discussed, Powers does an exceptional job imagining it and King’s delicate and thoughtful direction elevates the extraordinary performances to something sublime. The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime and it’s truly something special, ever more resonant as the conversations these four had sixty years ago continue today.
Also now streaming is MLK/FBI, a captivating documentary exploring the recently declassified files the FBI amassed on Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s not a mistake that both of these films are available widely just in time for King’s annual holiday; find screening options for MLK/FBI here.
As for what I’ve been reviewing lately, there’s a lot to love. One of my favorite movies of 2020, Promising Young Woman is now available on-demand; it’s the story of a woman seeking revenge after a sexual assault, and let’s just say it does not go where you expect it to. Popping with color and featuring a fearless, fierce performance from Carey Mulligan, it’s a wild ride from the drop.
Two smaller documentaries recently caught my attention, each remarkably well made about subjects I didn’t realize I was interested in until I watched them. The Reason I Jump uses Naoki Higashida’s memoir on being autistic as the touchpoint for its exploration of lives outside “the norm;” Some Kind of Heaven presents a dreamlike dystopia in the manufactured town squares and manicured lawns of The Villages, the country’s largest retirement community.
Stay Inspired
I don’t have a poem or quote or other bit of wonder to share this time around; what I do have could probably be better categorized under “Stay Entertained.” And yet, I find this compilation video of the best films of 2020 one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen recently. From the first frame, it’s pulsing with energy and a reverence for cinema that, to be honest, I find absolutely captivating.
There isn’t enough space here to go deep on what the movies mean to me, so I’ll just let this video countdown do the heavy lifting. Give it a watch and try not to be moved to seek out some great films for yourself.
Until next time,
Lisa