lqb2weekly #203 (27 jan 2025)

Jan 28, 2025

hey,

wow. what a month it’s been since i last hit send on a newsletter. there’s ENTIRELY too much to give a full commentary so imma just hit some highlights, share some things, and keep it moving.

highlights:

i didn’t work from 18 dec through 12 jan this year for my own winter break! it was dope.
- ok. i worked a little. but mostly i didn’t, i swear!
good newwwwwwwwwwwwsssss… she’s DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. wow. i think i might actually have to write an entirely separate wicked newsletter. i have seen it twice, am gonna see it a third time sometime soon, and am obsessed. more on that sometime soon… ish.
the israel-hamas ceasefire agreement has felt exciting to me and also, like many other people, i can’t totally access joy/celebration about it. partly because i don’t trust the state of israel to really cease. partly because even if the ceasefire holds, what’s next for impacted palestinians is return and for many folks, it means returning to rubble. oof.
climate change is really wild rn. LA and cali wildfires, my mom and dad had snow on their land in florida, and there was something like 12” of snow in louisana. like… what. for sure 1-in-100 or 1-in-1000 year events happen. so what will be really telling is if these things keep up. but if the science is anywhere near accurate… yikes.
finally, AI is fucking weird and bad and i don’t like it or where it’s going. the other day i was listening to a coaching call with a corporate guy who said, without hestitation, that he was struggling with what he was feeling with regards to a particular situation at work so he described the situation to the chatbot and it told him what he might have been feeling. i just…

“The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.” — e.o. wilson

i just can’t. and we are… just getting started? 😮‍💨

ok. moving on. some things i want to share:

i was reminded of this piece the other day and it’s so so good: a few rules for predicting the future by octavia butler
the fire this time festival in NYC
liberation games 2025 is coming up in a couple weeks! if you’re in boston, get your tickets asap. super fun. super great way to raise money for local, grassroots work!
here’s some fundraisers and lists of fundraisers related to cali wildfires and related causes (it’s partly so beautiful and partly so bewildering that this is the way we are doing this support these days, but here we are). note that if even seeing this many possible places to contribute money is overwhelming, just pick one that looks resonant, give, and keep it moving. IMHO not giving due to overwhelm is worse than “picking wrong”:
- specific people i know
  - Sumaya, Gibran and their young daughter Aya in altadena
  - darlene and sujin (actually they hit their goal so if you’re feeling energy to contribute, please share on another fundraiser)
- lists
  - Displaced Black Families GoFund Me Directory
  - Dedicated GoFundMe's directly from affected residents of Altadena/Pasadena
  - kelly hayes most recent edition of her newsletter, organizing my thoughts: Fire-Related Mutual Aid Efforts to Support and Some Must-Reads, has an excellent list of places to donate.
- specific organizations (from nadav)
  - homefulness (donation link) - a houseless people led solution to the homelessness crisis.
    - article "It’s a fire everyday when you live outside- the answer to emergencies is NOT more scarcity"
  - Tongva Land Conservancy (donation link): a land back project affected by the fires.
    - article "The Tongva’s land burned in Eaton fire. But leaders say traditional practices mitigated damage"
- other timely fundraisers
  - Empower Black Women in Medicine: Tossie and Honeybee
ok so i’m late on this one but my friend, paige, over at bad environmentalist started a black feature film club. below is the flyer for the most recent event but if you’re interested, you can still use the RSVP form to express your interest in getting word about future events.
some guys that are a part of the boston’s mens network are hosting a grief ritual in feb. we’re actually almost sold out of tickets so sharing this here is mostly just to name that it’s happening. and if there’s lots of interest, it will be clear that we should do this again. (aka if you’re tryna go but there are no tickets left by the time this gets sent, lmk! it’s also possible there will be cancellations)

coaching in our own words. i will give this more attention in my next newsletter but for now i want to share these 4 videos that me and two beloveds made describing coaching and our coaching practices! for now, i’m just going to share this video and share more details about it later

finally, there’s too much going on with the trump presidency for me to wade into it right now. but suffice it to say for now that i’m freaked and angry and worried. =\

on to the things!

(!!) pick of the pack

writing

some things i’ve written since the last newsletter:

Jan 20, 2025 | book review: radical friendship by kate johnson
Jan 20, 2025 | book review: coaching: evoking excellence in others by james flaherty
Jan 11, 2025 | some thoughts on texting during LA's current fire apocalypse
Dec 26, 2024 | therapy to prepare for parenting
Dec 16, 2024 | resources: thankstaking & indigenous peoples

quotes

there is nothing new under the sun. also, full transparency, many of these quotes come from james clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter (which i love).

Before you worry about how to win the game, figure out whether the game is worth winning. — James Clear

In any moment on any given day I can measure my wellness by this question:
Is my attention on loving or is my attention on who isn’t loving me? — Andrea Gibson

Less is more and more is more. It’s the middle that’s not a good place. — Paula Scher

There was once a very great American surgeon named Halsted. He was married to a nurse. He loved her—immeasurably.
One day Halsted noticed that his wife’s hands were chapped and red when she came back from surgery. And so he invented rubber gloves. For her. It is one of the great love stories in medicine. The difference between inspired medicine and uninspired medicine is love…
[He] loved her to the point of invention. — Sarah Ruhl

Focus on your likes, not your wants.
- You may not want to exercise, but you like how it makes you feel.
- You may not want to write, but you like the feeling of accomplishment.
- You may not want to wake up early, but you like the calm beauty of morning.
Wanting is the desire you feel before doing something. Liking is the satisfaction you feel after doing something. Let your likes guide you. — James Clear

Even if you’re not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it. — Tim Minchin

For a deeply political knowledge of the world does not lead to a creation of an enemy. Indeed, to create monsters unexplained by circumstance is to forget the political vision which above all explains behavior as emanating from circumstance, a vision which believes in a capacity born to all human beings for creation, joy, and kindness, in a human nature which, under the right circumstances, can bloom.
When a movement for liberation inspires itself chiefly by a hatred for an enemy rather than from this vision of possibility, it begins to defeat itself. Its very motions cease to be healing. Despite the fact that it declares itself in favor of liberation, its language is no longer liberating. It begins to require a censorship within itself. Its ideas of truth become more and more narrow. And this movement that began with a moving evocation of truth,begins to appear fraudulent from the outside, begins to mirror all that it says it opposed, for now it, too, is an oppressor of certain truths, and speakers, and begins, like the old oppressors, to hide from itself. — susan griffin, essay: the way of all ideology