Hi friend!

Hope you’re having an excellent Sunday! It’s been a busy couple of weeks over here in my world, so there will be no new video this week. Though I can assure you I am hard at work on my next one. It’s going to be about secondhand shopping, and I’m expecting to finish it up this week!

I’m going to be experimenting more with the format of this newsletter going forward. Today’s newsletter will not be its final form, but I’m just putting my fingers to the keyboard and seeing what my weird brain can come up with. Hopefully, you enjoy it!

An existential reflection on the Holiday season

As November settles in, the holiday season is officially upon us. This year will be remarkably different than any holiday season before – the first without my mom. This year has brought a lot of challenge, and this year’s holiday season has me questioning the meaning of and everything relating to the holidays. I’m feeling a lot more existential than I normally am.

But, as the time draws near, I’m reminded that, despite my mother’s absence, that my family is still there and that they’re the real focus of the holidays. Sure, gift-giving and receiving is nice and makes us feel good. But, spending time with those we love, whether it’s family, friends, or your spouse/partner, heals our soul in a deep and profound way. In an increasingly lonely world, it stands as a firm reminder that we aren’t alone in this world.

I can’t remember when the shift happened where the holidays became more about spending time with my immediate and extended family. But, it’s been true for every holiday season since the shift, and I don’t think this year will be any different. Despite that distinct lack of difference in spirit, it will be different in other ways. New traditions will be forged, new emotions we haven’t experienced this holiday season will be wrought upon us, and a distinct lack of someone we love. But, at the end of the day, the most important thing is that we have is each other.

Things I’ve been digging lately:

Reads

• ​Lightbringer by Brent Weeks (series)​
  • I’m a huge fan of fantasy. I picked up this series while I took a break from reading the monster monolith that is The Wheel of Time (14 books, 4 million words, around 11,500 pages in paperback) and it has been a fun read so far. I really love morally gray characters in fantasy worlds, and one of the main characters is the definition of morally gray. If that’s your thing, I highly recommend it.
• ​Codependent, No More by Melody Beattie​
  • Fun little admission – I struggle with codependency in relationships! This book has been super helpful for unpacking my struggles with being a codependent partner and has been empowering to make changes that significantly improve the balance of my partner and I’s relationship. I don’t share this lightly as I try to maintain a little bit of separation between this whole internet creator thing and my personal life. But often, we don’t talk about struggles in relationships in a healthy and productive way. So, I’m bucking the trend a little with this one.
• ​The Woman in Me by Britney Spears​
  • Sometimes Grace and I love to share an audiobook experience together. So, we’ll pick one to listen to when we’re driving if we’re not feeling music. As well, I’ve been enjoying reading memoirs these last couple of years, so this one was a no-brainer for us. Great audiobook to listen to, if not a little challenging due to some of the subject matter, but still a great read.

Things (What kind of crazy minimalist talks about owning things?! 😱)

• ​Keychron V1 Max​
  • Recently started having issues with my previous mechanical keyboard’s battery, so I decided to finally replace it. I went into Micro Center to check out the different options before I picked one out and fell in love with this when I typed on it. Annnnd, they had one on the clearance rack that was returned by someone. So, I got it for about $20 off retail. Love a good deal!
• ​Uniqlo MA-1 Bomber in Olive Green
  • I’ve been outgrowing (shrinking?) out of my bomber jacket from H&M for about a year or so now and have been on the hunt for a new one for a long time. I was bummed when I found this through a Google search to find it was discontinued. I was able to pick it up on Depop secondhand for around $30 before tax and shipping!
• ​Neewer light stand​
  • I recently bought a new piece of equipment for this channel! The light stand that I’ve been using for the last 4 years doesn’t have boom stand functionality. It made sense when I was doing wedding videography and I just needed something that could get up high into the air and be out of the way of guests, but for content creation at home, it’s been inconvenient. So I finally bit the bullet and bought one. I’ve only been working with it for my upcoming video, but this far it’s been fantastic.

Inspiration as of late

• ​Never Too Small
  • A YouTube channel dedicated entirely to thoughtfully designed small living spaces.
• ​Brian Lagerstrom​
  • Probably my favorite Foodtuber. Great recipes and are highly entertaining to watch.

That’s it for this week, folks! I appreciate your patience as the past two months have been exceptionally busy, and somewhat difficult at times. Rest assured, I’m working hard to bring you more content, and I cannot wait to share it with you.

As always, thanks for reading this week’s edition of my newsletter, and I’ll see you in the next one.

Cheers, Drew