Finding life beyond work and family

Last year, inspired by a fictional Marie Kondo-ish guru on the sitcom Younger, Quartz editor Sarah Todd conceived a useful exercise: “First, I divided a piece of paper into four quadrants. Then I wrote down my top four priorities, one in each quadrant, hoping to discover something illuminating, as the TV characters had, about how to live my best life.” Here’s what it looked like:

Not very revealing. “I already knew that I cared about relationships and work,” she wrote. “If I wanted to glean insight about positive changes I could make in my life, I needed to take work and relationships off the table. The issue wasn’t that those things weren’t actually important to me; it was that they were far and away the most important to me. They loomed so large that I couldn’t see anything else.” So she started over, no work or interpersonal relationships allowed. Here’s what she got:

Image for article titled Happy Friday: the hustle and flow edition

Now she was getting somewhere. “Suddenly I could see possibilities for change,” she wrote, picturing art classes and regular excursions outside the city.

Before long, Sarah was watercoloring in her kitchen and forest-bathing in Japan. It worked for other colleagues too. “Putting work and relationships temporarily out of the picture didn’t make anyone decide to quit their job and live as a hermit in the woods,” wrote Sarah. “It just helped us get a little more clarity about what’s missing in our lives—and discover the things we can do to get our groove back.”

Once you discover them, commit

Like me, Quartz’s Olivia Goldhill is embracing joy-inducing resolutions. “We tend to treat New Year’s resolutions as puritanical forms of self-admonishment, focusing on our shortcomings and increasing our guilt when we inevitably fall short of our goals,” she writes.

Instead, Olivia is inspired by friends who’ve resolved to have more sex, or get really into gin. “The point of indulgent resolutions isn’t to think of some highbrow pursuit you feel you ought to do more of—like reading great literature or going to interesting lectures. Instead, it’s about recognizing what brings you sheer, unadulterated joy, and making space for it in the coming year. Perhaps you want to drink more port (an unfashionable but delicious beverage), prioritize dog-sitting cute puppies, or get a whole sleeve of henna tattoos.” I’m not sure I can endorse a full sleeve of henna tattoos, but do your thing.

May your 2018 be graced with a little less hustle, and a little more flow—gin or otherwise. Have a great weekend!

The Golden Globes

Image for article titled Happy Friday: the hustle and flow edition
Image: Invision/AP/Jordan Strauss

The Golden Globes will air Sunday on NBC at 8pm. The awards show affectionately known as the drunk Oscars will likely take on a tenser tone post-Weinstein, starting with the red carpet. There, nominees including Meryl Streep, Jessica Chastain, and Eva Longoria plan to wear black to call attention to the epidemic of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Hollywood and beyond. The choice of color—or lack thereof—has some critics, such as the Washington Post’s Robin Givhan. “At a moment that has women seizing their authority and raising their voices, the point is to be seen and heard, ” she wrote, adding that this is a moment to celebrate female-led successes like Lady BirdBig Little LiesInsecure, and The Post—not to mention Oprah’s lifetime achievement award—rather than to appear in collective mourning. The Cut will sit out ranking (but will still post) red carpet looks, but at E! the show must go on. Live from the Red Carpet starts at 6pm ET, and it’s sure to be interesting.

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