Tha Good Good, Week of 10.11.20

Here are some dope things I've been into since my last newsletter. As always, let me know if there's something you'd like to see more of.

inspiration— Highly recommend throwing on some Lizzo before reading this short piece by Adam Skolnick about the biggest wave surfed this year and the woman who surfed it. 33-year-old Maya Gabeira overcame a 2013 wipeout that resulted in a snapped fibula and herniated disc, going on to surf the biggest wave surfed by anyone in the 2019-2020 season. Surfing has long been a lonely sport for women; it’s even lonelier for women at the top. “Of the top 10 big wave women in the world, there’s three getting paid...The top 10 male big wave surfers own homes, travel year-round and bring their families with them.” I am so thankful for the Maya Gabeiras and the Ali Wongs and the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes of the world who show young girls that with enough hard work, anything is possible. Says Gabeira, “I like to make something that seems so impossible to be possible. Because then it’s so much easier for the next one.”

book— Surfing emerges as the theme of today’s newsletter. Currently enjoying William Finnegan’s memoir Barbarian Days, which recounts a half-century of life in and out of the water. An ode to both the joys and sorrows of surfing, his subtlety and observations make for stories that will captivate surfers and non-surfers alike.

clip— I’ve been thinking a lot about the way social media is transforming communication, imposing character limits that award those who can say the punchiest thing using the fewest characters. There are a lot of big, complex issues facing society: climate change, healthcare, racial inequality. Complex issues require thoughtful discussions, discussions that involve learning and unlearning. Discussions that simply can’t fit into a 280-character box or Instagram comment thread. As cancel culture and the tendency to shame anyone less woke than yourself grow increasingly popular, I worry that we are losing the ability to have the kind of conversations that spark change. Former President Barack Obama weighs in.

dressings— Most salad dressings irk me. You spend time and money buying beautiful produce. You toss up a big salad while your roommates inhale Shake Shack, resisting the wafting cheese fries on the coffee table. Then you grab the Italian dressing that’s been sitting in your refrigerator door for god knows how long, and pour some on. Unbeknownst to you, the beautiful bowl of greens is now lathered in preservatives, sugar, and a laundry list of hard-to-pronounce crap. You think you’re fueling your body with goodness, but thanks to lobbying and nutritional confusion, you wind up filling it with junk. It’s like buying a Tesla only to find out it runs on coal. Like the person in your Zoom meeting who jumps in with, “If EVERYONE could please make sure they’re muted, that would be great,” Primal Kitchen swoops in to save the day. Primal Kitchen dressings taste amazing and contain just a short list of real ingredients. Cilantro Lime is my current favorite, but you can’t go wrong with any.

breathwork—You take around 20,000 breaths each day. How many of them are conscious? If you’re not paying attention to your breath, it’s time to wake up. Like sleep, nutrition, and exercise, breath is a pillar of health. Intentional breathing calms anxiety, reduces blood pressure, and expands lung capacity. New to breathwork? Start with 10 minutes of breathing guided by the LeBron James of breathwork, Wim Hof. No description of mine could do him justice, so look him up on your own time (the breathwork episode of The Goop Lab is a great place to start). For those ready to take the next step, I recommend MUD/WTR’s TGIF breathwork. Every Friday at noon PST, the incredible Chris Keener leads a free 1-hour breathwork session through Instagram Live. RSVP here.

moment of zen—
“The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness.” ― Deepak Chopra