August 13, 2023

One idea to keep it slow and simple… Map your constellations

Every year in August the stars remind us who we are—time-limited mortals on a little planet wrapped in galaxies upon galaxies.

This is the time of year when the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak and, in a dark sky, you can watch starstuff streak across space one after another like little miracles. There’s nothing quite like it for reorienting yourself in a universe that is wild, massive, mysterious, and really freaking beautiful.

But before you think this means you’re small, let us reorient you to your own little universe, inside of which you are a star among stars. What constellations do you make? What points of light can you map in your experiences, your neighborhood, your travels, and your travails? What story do they tell? What shape do they make?

Be they archers or dippers or bears large or small, may you bask in their glow from time to time.

And some clickable fun

We love to discover and share, so we’ve added three cool clickables. And just so you know, when we list products, it’s just because we like them. We’re not sponsored by anything but our dreams and imaginations.

• Take a 3-minute forest bath with this immersive trip through the redwoods.

• “The city of Melbourne assigned trees email addresses so citizens could report problems. Instead, people wrote thousands of love letters to their favorite trees.” Love letters to trees? 😍😍.

• Could you do the dishes without a podcast? Drive without music? Why is it so hard to do one thing at a time? Oliver Burkeman wants you to try.