Oh my goodness what a joyous few weeks. I began writing this post weeks ago actually before I jetted off on holidays (it happened!!! It actually happened! And there’ll be a whole separate post about that imminently!) so some of what I wrote about below is no longer applicable – namely the weather. But pretty much the rest still stands.

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How amazing has the weather been lately?! I absolutely ADORE warm weather, and we got a glorious bank holiday weekend last weekend. I hope you got to enjoy some time in the sun, I was working but it was still lovely to have some sun of course!

I mentioned in last week’s post that I was meeting up with friends that I haven’t seen in person for over a year, and honestly, it was the most wholesome thing I’ve experienced in ages. I went for lunch with some friends and didn’t get home until waaaay into the evening, and I went for brunch with another beautiful friend – I got emotional when I saw her again. It was the best week and I felt such a surge of joy.

I had been thinking about the concept of joy a lot, because during the long, monotonous months of lockdown 3.0, it wasn’t so much the boredom that got me, but more the absence of joy. There was nothing joyous happening, and I think that was what caused me to struggle so badly. These last couple of weeks have been wonderful, I’ve loved seeing people and I have also loved seeing the joy radiating from customers during my shifts in the wine bar. I’m very much looking forward to the many more reunions and happy things I have planned over coming months, long may it continue.

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So as I said, I’m now back from my holiday (more joy!!!) and I’m sharing this slightly belated post of things I read/watched and listened to before I went. There’ll be a 5 Minute Coffee Corner holiday edition to follow!

Reading

Boy, 7, swims one hour to shore to save his drowning family

I read this article and honestly, I felt my heart melting as I was reading. Such a sweet little boy and what must have been a horrendously scary time for both the father and the children involved. The news is always so negative that I rarely ever read it, and definitely never watch it, but this article really melted my heart.

I haven’t been reading much lately but I’m off on holiday tomorrow and have packed three books to take with me, so hopefully I’ll make a start on at least one!

Watching

The Circle USA (Season one)

You know what, somebody told me about this show ages ago and I was like NOPE sounds like my worst nightmare. A load of fame hungry ‘influencers’ all playing a game and claiming to be their authentic selves, no thank you I’d rather eat my own head.

But honestly, I take it all back. Every last word and bad thought right back in my mouth and back down my throat to the depths of my feet or as far down my body as they can go. I absolutely LOVE this show.

The idea is that a load of players are placed in an apartment block (which incidentally is based over in Salford Quays – there was a UK version and even though it’s the American version of the show, they’re still placed in the same location!) and they play a virtual game so they don’t actually get to meet each other in person, until the very end of the show when the remaining players battle it out for the $100,000 prize. It’s basically a huge popularity contest which I thought I’d hate but isn’t actually as bad as it sounds. They spend their time talking to people and trying to make connections, but never knowing if the person they are speaking with is legit or a catfish.

It is honestly so much better than it sounds, and I won’t tell you who I’m talking about in case you watch it but I was SO thrilled with the winner. The person was my favourite! Since writing this post originally, I also watched season two, but didn’t enjoy that anywhere near as much as the first. It felt a lot more fake and game-playing (which I know – is the whole point) but I preferred the people from the first. Definitely watch season one!

Listening

Hello Seven Podcast Episode 089 Normalizing Black Wealth with Rachel Cargle

The majority of my freelance work is in the podcast industry and I am so fortunate to be exposed to an array of interesting podcasts and topics through my work. This episode is a fascinating discussion about Black wealth and money, finances and running a business, but is relevant if you are an entrepreneur, interested in hustle (or rather anti-hustle) culture, or just want to hear people talk openly about wealth and money. I love Rachel Rodgers and the general BOSS that she is, and this was a wonderful episode with Rachel Cargle. Absolutely loved it.

Ben Pearson – Ex Police Officer Shares Cop Secrets & Worst Criminal Cases!

On the looooooong journey to Cornwall, after we became a little tired of listening to music/chatting/looking out the window, James started playing some episodes of a podcast called JaackMaate’s Happy Hour. I was half listening to bits of it whilst catching up on friends’ voice notes in my headphones. Once I was caught up, I really tuned in and wow, what an episode this was. The host (not sure if his name is Jack or Jaackmaate ha!) interviewed an ex police officer called Ben Pearson, who shared his experiences of meeting serial killers, being on crime scenes, but also the harrowing experiences he’s had in his personal life. He spoke so eloquently about his troubles and mental health issues and his experience with PTSD after witnessing a horrendous crime, and it was interesting, captivating and devastating in equal measure. It was a long episode, but if you do get a spare couple of hours or time to listen, I really recommend listening to this episode.

Before You Go…

On the topic of wholesome and joyous, I’ll just leave this here.

I honestly live for shit like this.

I’ll be back next week with what I saw, watched, read etc. on my holiday in an attempt to relive it and pretend I’m still on the beautiful Cornish coast. Have a great week y’all (damn, the American podcast hosts I work with are really getting into my head again!)