Dear Together Friends, Fans, and Family,
January was like a century long. But all tropes aside, is it really possible that I de-decked the house just a month ago? Between the gazillion snow days here in the DC area, daytime and evening Together courses, and general fatigue (blah, blah, blah), I’ve found a little solace in this new hobby of mine—learned at age 43, thank you very much. Bonus points that I feel like superwoman when I manage two of the medium-sized kids, poles, Doritos, boots, Gatorade, gloves, and zero-degree temperatures completely solo without losing my patience. We’ve all embraced the mantra I use to distract everyone from our snowy, cold, clunky walk to the Honda Pilot: “Kids, this will be the longest 20 minutes of your life!” By the time they finish arguing with me that I am DEAD WRONG and it WILL NOT be the hardest 20 minutes of their lives, we’ve unbuckled gear, stripped off snow pants, and made it to the McDonald’s drive-thru (scene of my first paid job, thank you very much!) for McFlurries.
Otherwise, to borrow words from essayist Abby Raminksy, I’m trying to “zero in on the smallest measure of time, the tiniest glimmers of pleasure,” whenever I can find them. Whether it’s cats on Vitamixes (PS this cat looks EXACTLY like MY naughty tuxedo cat), our favorite school leaders pumping up students and staff in Jackson (as a sidenote, my very last pre-pandemic work trip was with these lovely folks), or listening to this song and this song on repeat, I’ll take it where I can get it. For those of you looking to expand your Black History month resources, I appreciated this article(thanks, Kim Marshall!), the health and wellness highlights here, the resources shared by our friends over here. I also plan to watch this, cook this (PS if any New Orleans folks personally know Joy the Baker, can you tell her I’m semi-obsessed and maybe have taken her online cinnamon roll classes?!), and welcome my sister, The Together Farmer, from her homestead in rural Maine.
February is a HUGE month in the Together-verse! AND if you’ve ever taken Together Leader over the past decade and you’re wishing for a Part 2, well, for the first time ever, we are offering it as a three-week course called Together Teams in March!
#clogsandclipboards #togetherforever
MHM
PS Have a mailbag question? We’ve got answers – starting with our thoughts (and others’!) on Slack! Send ‘em here.
PPS Want to show someone you love the gift of Togetherness on February 14? We got you covered here! This book works wonders for planning personal stuff too!
In This Newsletter
- Together Treasure Box (From the Blog!)
- Top Together Tributes
- Upcoming Together (Online) Trainings
Together Treasure Box (From the Blog!)
- Have a love-hate relationship with Slack? You’re not alone. In the latest Mailbag post, my friend Sorby requests perspective on how to manage Slack with her team, and the Together-verse does not disappoint!
- Holiday decorations still up? You’re not alone. Again! Read about my struggle to get things organized and stored until next year…and some best practices I came up with along the way! (Hiring one’s children is alwaysan option!)
- Find yourself saying, “I’ll get it Together tomorrow?” You. Are. Not. Alone. Truly! We’ve all had those days/weeks/months/years! These are times that call for grace, for ourselves and for each other.
Top Together Tributes
- Top Historical View on Hobbies: This is a fascinating history of how the struggle for labor rights led to more leisure time led to more pressure to fill that time with more “productive” pursuits. Do your hobbies (or lack of hobbies!) add joy or stress?
- Top Substitute for New Year’s Resolutions: Research shows it’s an uphill climb to actually stick to our January promises all year long. But what about this approach of adding or subtracting one thing, each month of the year? Our friend Elena is all about it!
- Top Approach to Change that Sticks: Human Behavior researcher BJ Fogg has spent years studying what actually creates behavior change. Check out his book here or sign up for this free 5-day program to change your own #tinyhabits!
