Edition #20: Here to Distract You From the World
Plus, turn your face into Renaissance painting. Mitch McConnell's liberal daughters, and the false promise of wedding vows
A note from the editor
There's a lot I want to ruminate on right now, but to be honest, I need a break from the doom and gloom of reality. In the spirit of taking a step back from the real world, I decided to forego my regular editor's note this week to share the first page of a short story I wrote instead (if you don't like reading fiction, feel free to skip past this part).
The story is called The Winnings, and it's about a family of grownup children from a troubled past who come into a lump sum of money. According to one eloquent reader, the story is actually about the depths of familial ties and how people tend to sulk in their own versions of the truth. I hope it provides you with a little bit of escape today. Here it goes:
I never actually believed anyone I knew would win the lottery, let alone my own sister.
The day I saw the names of all four of my siblings on the same text thread, I immediately assumed our mom was dead. I pictured her lifeless body sprawled out in a dirty motel room next to some greasy man wearing nothing but tighty whiteys and a wife-beater, surrounded by overflowing ashtrays and half-drunk bottles of Diet Coke. Judge Judy would be playing on mute, silently scolding my mom, the man, and the two warm bodies in her courtroom all at once. When the authorities finally arrived, whether it be from the smell of decaying flesh or because the bill hadn’t been settled up, they’d take in the scene with disinterest.
Nothing to see here, Bob, just a couple of crackheads.
My dark daydream was interrupted by a persistent buzzing. I glanced down to read the message thread on my screen: nobody was dead, and Willa had just won the Powerball.
She’d been playing the same numbers since we turned 18, scourging together enough change to buy a single ticket from the same 7-Eleven week after week. It was there that she met her husband, the charmingly unhandsome gas station clerk who would flirt mercilessly until she finally agreed to go on a date with him. One quick courthouse wedding and 11 years of losing tickets later, she’d finally won.
In true Willa fashion, she decided the best way to spend her winnings was an even, five-way split between us siblings, so long as we followed her rules: 3 months of therapy, a selfie in the waiting room every week to prove our attendance, and after 12 completed sessions, $650,000 would be rewarded to each of us. I re-read her message over and over, certain I was misunderstanding something.
Cheers my dears, I hope you have a lovely, distraction-filled day. If you'd like to read more of the story, leave me a comment and i’ll be happy to email it to you.
Three Pieces of Content Worth Consuming
When Did Wedding Vows Get So Intense? Back in the day, marriage was about protecting lineage and property-- love was optional. But as marriage transformed into something larger than life, bringing forth the unreasonable expectation of perpetual bliss, wedding vows also become more personal...and much more intense. In this fascinating video, a relationship therapist and a vow writer discuss the evolution of the promises we make on our wedding day. The always enlightening Esther Perel says, "Love is a verb, not a permanent state of enthusiasm"
On Mitch McConnell's Liberal Daughters. With every storybook villain there's often a point in the narrative when you get a glimpse behind the curtain, a backstory to humanize the character, and explain how they ended up the way they are. This account of Mitch McConnell's daughters does quite the opposite. I was shocked to learn his youngest daughter is staunch a liberal activist, and that his ex-wife went on to do important feminist work alongside Gloria Steinem. So what on Earth happened to Mitch?
After COVID Comes a Collective Gaslighting. This is arguably the most eloquent, important essay of the pandemic. After months in isolation, we're all craving a dose of normalcy. On the sidelines, companies, marketers and our government are waiting to pounce, to convince us that everything is back to normal and that it wasn't actually THAT bad. They'll encourage us to spend mindlessly to detract from the ugly things we saw during The Great Pause, to fill our lives with stuff. We should all be wary.
Perhaps You Should...
Get Your Mom/Dad/Grandma/Grandpa a Great Gift
While creating a family heirloom at the same time. I got my mom this book a few years back, and after reading her answers I realized just how little I knew about her life before me. Not only will you read about moments you never thought to ask after, but you can also pass this book down for generations. Imagine your grandchildren reading your parents' memories from a book written "way back in 2020" (**cries**).
(Transform Your Face With) **Bonus Content**
We're all spending an obscene amount of time staring at our screens these days, so why not stare at your face as a Renaissance painting instead? After uploading several makeup-free selfies and turning my face into various old-timey portraits, I've decided I am extra thankful for eyebrow pencil and lipstick.
A Quote From a Book You Should Read:
"There are no atheists on turbulent airplanes."
-Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
This newsletter is best served with a side of conversation, so drop your opinions, reflections, and thoughts in the comments below and let’s get to talking.
Or, share the most thought-provoking piece from today’s edition with someone you love, then call them up to discuss, debate, and percolate. As a wise woman once said, “Great minds discuss ideas.”