Journalling, boujie candles and garlic soup in summer
In which I realise what makes expensive candles so justifiably expensive. Sigh.
Hello, it’s great to
see you again.
Editor – Phoebe Tully
—
Is it la niña? Is it burnout?
So many people I know are getting sick at the moment with colds – not major illnesses, thank goodness, but the sort that catches up to you at the most inconvenient time. The sort that is now unacceptable to go out and about with. Remember when kids with colds were sent to school anyway? Or someone came into the office with a box of tissues and some excuse about being too busy to stop? Ugh.
This issue is full of slightly unseasonal suggestions, considering it is the last day of November and I have a jumper on. It’s a weird time, so this week: Phoebe’s orders! It’s a candles, journalling, garlic soup kinda week.
Why leave the nurturing, healing things for when we’ve already come down with a cold? This week, look after yourself with The Small Things.
Taking five minutes.
I accidentally bought a knock-off this journal. I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was a knock-off until I went online and realised this is a thing! Anyway, I’m making up for it by promoting the real deal.
More and more I’ve been hearing about the psychological benefits of practising gratitude. According to the folks at Harvard Medical School:
Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
The Five Minute Journal ($) is going to help you get there – in, like, five minutes a day. They’re not joking about that.
Even as a writer, I’ve found the idea of journalling kind of intimidating, but this is so approachable and I appreciate being guided with simple prompts. I’m really enjoying this little ritual, which I do in bed when I wake up and then again just before I turn the lights out at night.
Tim Ferriss, bless his heart, takes this to another level. He looks over his Five Minute Journal each quarter and reflects on any patterns so he can make incremental improvements in his life. Of course he does.
Will you light my expensive candle?
I was recently gifted* a set of Queen B candles ($$) and holy smokes (no pun intended), they are incredible. They’re one of those products where you wonder how on earth candles could be this expensive, and then you realise exactly why they are worth it, and now cheaper versions are spoiled forever.
Queen B candles are pure Australian beeswax with a pure cotton wick – and nothing else. They last for hours without dripping. This stunningly presented set comes with a small brass holder, and makes a divine gift, as I can attest.
Damn it.
*Gifted in the traditional sense of being given a present; not in the PR sense.
DO | make a list of everything you don't have a frame for and then get shopping – IKEA, op-shops and professional framers all have a place here. Life’s too short for memories hidden in drawers and cupboards.
MAKE | a traditional Bordelais garlic soup. Serve with a delicious, fresh baguette and a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley.
READ | Ulysses – James Joyce
WATCH | Somm (2013)
LISTEN | Half Mile Harvest – The Teskey Brothers