01: Whoever said January is a long month, was probably right.
January is over. And I am showing up to the promise I made to document memories, and share with loved ones. I’ll be completely honest, this post has been haunting me for the last few weeks. The thought of trying something this new and this personal scares me a lot. The idea of sharing — truly sharing, getting deeper than 10 photos on a carousel, both excites me and intimidates me. So much so that I’ve procrastinated on starting this for a while now, worrying that whatever I write won’t live up to my own expectations. Well, honey, January is over, and it’s now or never. So, here’s what 2024’s first 31 days brought to my life.
What I watched
I started 2024 on a movie kick. After reading some NY Times articles about potential Oscar nominees, I decided to sign up for Letterboxd and watch the most hyped movies of last year. I didn’t necessarily have a goal to watch all the best picture nominations, so I picked the ones that I thought I would like the most, and some other random movies (not from 2023) that ended up crossing my path. Here are my one to two-sentence thoughts with very little to no explanation.
May December: People are crazy. I love-hated every single character. The guy that plays the dad should win an Oscar, I felt for him so bad.
Anatomy of a Fall: Shit happens and sometimes we’ll never know why. The kid was so brave as all his parental figures fell (literally and figuratively) apart in front of him.
Past Lives: This one hit close to home, and the final scenes made me cry. Sometimes I think about humans and migrations and how globalization is great, but also f* us in many ways.
Saltburn: Maximalism, shock value, and social class theories packaged in a remake of “Talented Mr. Ripley”. Murder on the dance floor” is living rent free in my head this month.
Society of the Snow: Shit happens and people are crazy resilient. Also, it’s always nice to watch a movie in Spanish.
Talented Mr. Ripley: I started watching this before Saltburn, and ended after finishing Saltburn (go figure), but couldn’t help noticing the similarities. I wish I had watched it at a different time.
Autumn Sonata: A Swedish gut punch. I watched it because my therapist asked me to. Don’t do it.
Besides movies, I watched “American Nightmare” and thought it was an average true crime, and made considerable progress on “Succession”. I could write a whole lot about Succession, but for now, I’ll just say the writing and jokes are solid, and watching it has helped me significantly detach myself, and my personal worth, from work, in a good way.
What I listened to
One of my goals for this winter is to spend more time outside. So, I bought some base layers, and committed to walking our dog whenever the weather outside doesn’t freeze my exotic lashes. Here’s what I listened to during my walks:
How to Keep Time: This is a podcast series by The Atlantic, and “How to Keep Time” is their fifth (?) season. The themes they cover, throughout all the seasons, are really interesting to me, things that are extremely complex to grasp, yet very mundane — like the passing of time, connecting with others, finding happiness, and building community. The episodes were short but interesting, and the content of this last season was part of what inspired me to write these posts.
Retail Therapy by Sunday Scaries: This podcast is a peek into the men’s world. When I listen to it, I escape to a world where I am a white millennial male with not a single worry in life. There’s something about how the hosts talk through pop culture topics that is relatable and fun.
Honourable mentions this month to “Huberman Lab”. I can’t decide if Huberman is a douche spreading bro science around the world, or just an American guy that likes science and academic research; and “Raising Good Humans” for those walks where I just needed to hear I am a good parent, and I everything is going to be ok.
Music-wise, Noah Kahan absolutely dominated my playlist this month. We’re going to a concert in March and I can’t wait to sing “Stick Season” at the top of my lungs with my girls.
What I did
Whoever said January is a long month, was probably right. I did so much over the last 31 days, here are some of the highlights not in chronological order:
Hosted supper to celebrate my sister’s engagement, and hosted a karaoke night
Refreshed my workspace with a new mouse, a mechanical keyboard and a walking pad
Set up a new play space for Miguel in the basement
Finished reading “Study for Obedience” by Sarah Bernstein and gave it two sad stars (it was just not my vibe)
Tried cross-country skiing for the first time, and was reminded that some of my hip muscles still exist and will complain when bothered.
What I felt
All and all, January made me feel small. As the time stretched into 31 long low-light days, I grappled with the idea of meaning and “what matters”, as I always do. After saying goodbye to loved ones this month, I was called to focus less on work and zoom out, and see life as a whole; walking and Saskatchewan's endless blue skies helped.
I took it easy and was not ashamed to admit it. In doing it, though, I worried about falling behind, or not delivering as much as I should be. But, I was also able to find joy in small moments. Let's see what February has in store.
