This is your weekly Bloomscroll - Edition 159. Save anything you want to remember here with the mymind browser extension or mobile app.
Here's what's on my mind.
💭 This poem by William Stafford
A poem worth memorizing imo, especially if you're prone to catastrophizing:
💭 This Atlantic article about the decline of reading
Americans, once members of a proudly literate society, read much less than they used to. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, which conducts the most comprehensive survey of the nation’s reading habits, fewer than half of all adults reported having read a book of any kind in 2022. Only 38 percent read a novel or short story. A study analyzing 236,000 responses to the American Time Use Survey found that the proportion of Americans who read for pleasure on any given day fell from 28 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2023. (The study looked at people who had read a book, magazine, or newspaper; listened to an audiobook; or read an e-book.) Gambling has become a more common leisure activity than reading a book: Last year, 57 percent of Americans placed a bet.
As disheartening as it may seem, I'm still seeing enough anecdotal evidence otherwise: people reading on trains, friends joining reading groups, even a cousin's girlfriend inspired by TikTok to read fantasy novels. Not all hope is lost, my friends. But this article is a good wakeup call.
💭 This quote from writer Joyce Carol Oates
💭 The futility of asking everyone's opinion
A new, very short piece on Mind Palace. If you're one of those people who feels compelled to poll all your friends and family about every decision you make (couldn't be me), be sure to read it.
Read “the more you ask, the less you know” →
💭 This interview
You may know Christene Barberich by her newsletter, A Tiny Apartment, or by Refinery29, the media company she founded for women. These were my introductions to her world, one of serendipity and optimism and play – and many a thrift find. After following Christene’s work for years now, I’m excited to get a glimpse into her mind.
Also on mymind this week: this hilarious takedown written by Mark Twain in 1895, critiquing the writings of novelist James Fenimore Cooper ⟡ what Hannah Arendt said about evil ⟡ and this problem-solving flowchart for worriers.
Until next week, take care of your mind.
