Shine the light
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” - Edith Wharton
This quote, which I found within this short piece, has been on my mind all week. Be the light, or reflect it. When it feels too tiring, or too hard, or too whatever to be your own light, help someone else's shine brighter.
That link, like so many of the ones I read and cherish every week came from one of my favorite newsletters. I get at least one newsletter from a writer I admire every day and reading them is a ritual I love. Because I'm full of useless facts, I get asked a lot about what I read. So much of it comes from these smart people curating the vast sea of content and creating their own.
In the spirit of spreading the light, here is a non-exhaustive overview (because that would be exhausting) of my newsletter inbox:
Ann Friedman Weekly: Ann is a writer and the co-host of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast. She curates a lengthy list of the best content of the week and shares her own work and thoughts on how to live in the world today. If you pay, you get her weekly pie chart of life. It's worth it.
the collected ahp: Anne Helen Petersen is an author and reporter at Buzzfeed. She relocated to her hometown in Montana to cover the American West and Midwest, with a focus on this election season. Read her latest for a taste.
Girls' Night In: A Newsletter for Women Who'd Rather Stay In. I've been a subscriber since before they launched and have loved to see this community grow. Next month, we're doing an event with GNI and are excited to share in our mutual love of chilling.
The Ed's Up: Ed Yong is a science writer at The Atlantic and author of the book "I Contain Multitudes", so this one is weird and interesting science news.
The Sunday Soother: A Sunday morning drop that is all about what she calls "practical spirituality" (aka it's not religious, but it is thoughtful and caring).
Let Go and Let Haul: A weekly look into one woman's journey of entrepreneurship building a AI video editing platform.
The Beat DC: A political newsletter (and platform) that focuses on candidates and policies that specifically affect people of color and underrepresented communities.
...the fuck is this?: Bim Adewumni is someone you should follow and her "things that have no meaning, sent out sporadically" is a real delight when it comes.
Three Weeks: This one comes every three weeks and is sort of hard to describe, but I will say this: every one ends with a motivational Britney Spears meme.
Lean Luxe: If you're constantly searching the landscape for new brands, deeply interested in whats happening with the OVs and Allbirds of the world, and want to stay on top of consumer trends, this one's for you.
The Morning Shakeout: This one is about running. Also about life. Because running is about life.
I'll Be Right Back: I am not a parent, but I've been reading Laura Owen's missives on parenting in the world today for years.
NextDraft: Dave Pell calls himself "Managing Editor, Internet" and ya know what? I buy it. Fascinating daily news stuff you can read on the commute.
Short and sweet ones: Laura Olin and Stacy Marie-Ishmael both send out a few links/thoughts weekly. Quick reads, always worth it — both also highlight awesome job openings!
Believe it or not, I've also unsubscribed from a number recently. What am I missing that you read? Tell me things.
Some of these are paid ($5 a month or year), most are free. I intentionally left out newsletters that are primarily tied to another medium (a recap of news on a site, side content for a podcast) this time around. Perhaps a volume ii on that, or podcasts, or twitter people who will make your life better multiple times a day.
See you soon, I hope. Take care of yourself this week, okay?
xo,
Molly