Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋

Happy Wednesday. I have a giant wooden fence in my backyard, and it's being repaired today. Old boards replaced, some structural issues addressed (big storm about a month ago), repainted. Necessary work, but expensive. Houses are money pits.

1) Reflection:

On this day a year ago, I had just arrived in Barcelona, Spain, for a 9-day trip with a friend. About three weeks later, I found out that I had a brain tumor and needed surgery to remove it.

I haven't written in my personal blog for a few months, but I wrote an update here.

2) Tip

I am currently listening to Jenny Lawson's new book, How to Be Ok When Nothing Is Ok. If you're familiar with her work, it's a lot different than her other books — more in the self-help category. She struggles with anxiety, depression, and some other health issues, so she writes about coping while also dealing with *waves around at the entire world.*

She shared a playlist of music she listens to when she needs a pick-me-up. I added the songs to an Amazon Music playlist, and liked the variety. If you'd like to hear it, you can listen here.

3) Product

Another thing Lawson mentions in her book is "rose, rose, thorn, bud." Each day you say two things you're thankful for (roses), one thing that you didn't like (thorn), and one thing you're looking forward to (bud). Our family has a practice of saying something we're thankful for every night, but the "thorn" addition acknowledges that sometimes things just suck.

​This book is a daily journal of rose, rose, thorn, bud. I bought a copy and my 8-year-old, and I have been writing in it every day since it arrived.

Want more ideas?

→ On May 13th, I'll be speaking at a Future Is Freelance forum on the topic of "AI in Practice." You can register for this free session here.
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→ I wrote recently about what it's like to pivot mid-career. You can read my thoughts here.

That's it for this issue of Tinkering! See you again in two weeks.

Cheers,
Anna

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