Lil Treasures #71: Big Boy Celery and a Secret Group
Plus: Spaghetti straps, Selena, and #bossbabe
Hello! A very quick announcement before we begin this session of Lil Treasures: I’m looking for a testing group for a project I’m working on, and I’m coming to the Lil Swipes first. Very basically, it’s a small group to go through a workshop (that might not stay a workshop, WHO KNOWS this is a laboratory I’m doing science) I’m creating that gives handles to deconstruction and reconstruction of faith. I would LOVE to have a few test subjects who can commit to the process and give feedback. We won’t start until probably mid-summer, but if you are potentially interested with just that small little nugget of information, will you click here and fill out this quick form? It in no way obligates you to follow through at all, but I’d love to see if there’s even an interest for something like this. I can’t promise that everyone who indicates interest will be contacted for the beta group (just depends on how many of you there are), but no matter what, it means the world to me that you would want to give it a go. Thank you! We now return to your regularly scheduled program.
***UPDATE thank you so much for those of you who filled out the survey! We have enough people at this time, but I will reach out if we need anything like this in the future!
Let’s Do Some Q + A!
Q: Curious for your thoughts on the whole Rachel Hollis situation!
A: What remains to be said about Rachel? This, this, and this are all excellent and thorough explanations of the culture she created around herself, and honestly, I don’t think the world needs me weighing in on those aspects. I’ve always held Rachel at arm’s length because she feels like seeing my ego walking around on its hind legs. That if I didn’t have a community of honest people around me, that if I indulged in my own good press and inner vanities, I could easily be her (not a multi-million dollar #bossbabe, but someone who was solely directed by her worst tendencies). If I’m honest, I relate to Rachel in more ways than I’m comfortable with, and to be fair, we’re probably more alike (as people. Again, I do not have any New York Times bestsellers, nor have I spoken to Oprah) than I care to admit: I’m just surrounded by people who are not afraid to call me on my crap. I dearly hope Rachel learns from this because her platform is huge and she has the power to reach so many people who could benefit from the education she’s receiving. I don’t say that from a place of “OH I AM SO EVOLVED AND AMAZING” because let’s be clear, I’ve had the joy of making mistakes in front of a much smaller studio audience. But it’s not surprising when we write books and blogs and Instagram captions about how get through without apologizing that we actually don’t know how to apologize, that we revel in being unrelatable, that we “work our ass off” to hire a housekeeper when in all probability, that housekeeper is working her ass off too, she just doesn’t have the inherent privilege that you possess. And that’s fine as long as you know it and you own it (as opposed to comparing yourself to Malala). It’s incredibly cringey to watch her because I get her. I get that desire to look like I’ve got it all together. I get that desire to look like a superhuman. I get that desire to look successful. I get that desire when you make a mistake, to carefully word your apology so you don’t have to take full responsibility. But none of this is new. And honestly, I can’t believe we’re still having these discussions about her. What I really want is for her to go away and learn and listen and stop blaming her team and own up to her choices. And after that, live a nice, quiet life of cancelling school lunch debt or something. But until she gets a new life trajectory, we don’t have to listen to it, we don’t have to build our lives around it, and we don’t have to support it.
Q: How to politely ask my in-laws to not comment on my pregnant body.
A: In these cases, I like to turn it around on the person who thinks it’s okay to comment on someone’s body. Just ask them the same question they ask you. Comment about the same part of their body as they are commenting on yours. It’s funny, it gets the point across, and I promise you they will never do it again. Here I wrote you a script:
Your In-Law: Oh my goodness, you’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw you! Growing that sweet grandbaby for me!
You: You’ve gotten bigger too! What are you growing? (bright smile)
And scene.
Q: What are you currently reading? For fun and for study.
A: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll, re-reading What the Bible Really Means by Pete Enns, and for funsies I’m still reading The House in the Cerulean Sea. For the Faith Adjacent Book Club, we’re reading The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper and it is…wait for it…very good.
Q: What is the playlist for your significant spiritual moments? - @kaityklare
A: Holy Moses do I love this question. I made a playlist for you. ENJOY.
Now For Some Treasures!
💃 Y’all this little girl vibing to Selena is my favorite thing.
🌎 Even though it seems like we are starting to see the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, I still find myself inwardly planning for the worst. I feel unsure of how to go back to the way things were, and also unsure of what things I want to stay the same. A friend sent me this article from the New York Times about emerging back into the world post-pandemic, and it made me feel less alone processing these thoughts. It’s worth the read if you have the time!
🚶♀️ If you ever had your doubts about Stupid Walk™, here is a post by Michelle Obama that essentially endorses it.
👊 We all need a hype girl like this. Consider this your Friday morning pep talk - go get ‘em!
And Now, Tweets!
If you do not follow Gerald, a British man who grows big veggies, you need to do so ASAP 👇🏽
It has been...a bit since I’ve had the energy comment but I’m still here. It was a few very difficult months BUT my mew mental health meds are working and I feel like an actual person again. Like, better than I’ve felt since college. Even my therapist mentioned how odd it was to see me so happy (in a good way).
In the last few weeks I’ve been actually sleeping and waking up without immediately feeling overwhelmed and it’s still like Christmas morning. I’m halfway through my fist semester of grad school and finally feel like I’m not drowning.
I’ve been able to read again! Like, really read! I’ve been devouring books the last few weeks and it’s possible the best thing to happen in years. I missed it so much.
We’re navigating the expansion of hours the public is allowed in at my library and we’re likely going to be asked to go back to pre-Covid hours and services soon and it is a bit scary but I’m trying not to think about it until necessary. There not much else to do at this point.
I get my second dose of the the vaccine this week and I am thrilled! I feel such relief already.
I do have something I’d love your thoughts/suggestions on: I’m in the proof deconstructing the faith I grew up with, which like many of us, was evangelical Christianity. I am at the point where I want to burn it all down and I’m struggling to find resources that don’t start with the assumption that Jesus is still the center - if that makes sense? I know it’s not common because most of us are deconstructing the culture and toxic beliefs around Christianity but still believe in the basic principles of Jesus as the son of God and I’d like some resources that go back even further?
Holy smokes this playlist is everything!!!!!!! So much nostalgia for my evangelical youth group days, drives to conventions, and human music videos (anyone else?). I'm literally sitting on my toilet (the only place I get service on my newly purchased acreage) downloading it to my Spotify so I can listen without wifi. This was important enough to post about. Thanks Erin! Lol