What's Cool This October

By luck or fate or some other reason, you’ve found yourself reading an email from Thinking Is Cool, *the* podcast to listen to if you want to have better conversations. If this email was forwarded to you, sign up for regular correspondence from me, Kinsey, right here:

Good morning, happy Friday, happy October, happy everything! It’s historically been tremendously hard for me to process anything during the month of October aside from the rich subtext of the films Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus. In keeping with my commitment to honesty with Thinking Is Cool, I’ll be honest: I am quite frankly too jittery and excited to write a long piece today.

So instead of writing some manifesto about life changes or existential crises, I’m going to give you a few fun, random, hopefully thought-provoking ideas. There are no rules, it’s a fall Friday.

What I’m Thinking About to Kick Off Freeform’s 31 Days of Halloween™

Basic b*tch season. I have two pumpkins in my apartment. I bought Trader Joe’s out of pumpkin butter, pumpkin brioche, and pumpkin oat milk. I’ve been burning a cardamom-scented candle all week. And I make no apologies.

Every autumn, the saddest members of our online society take to their keyboards to angrily scoff at what they deem “basic” behavior, pointing their fingers and foisting claims of unoriginality. You know what’s actually unoriginal? Not liking something just because other people like it. If you’re someone who calls other people basic as an insult...grow up.

And if it isn't cool to be basic, then explain to me why I look so cool in this collection of photos taken of me in front of a pumpkin patch from that time in 2019 that I got drunk on a vineyard tour??

That's what I thought.

Perfection is the enemy of progress. I’m not sure why, but I thought about this saying in the shower the other day and I can’t stop repeating these words to myself over and over again. Take it as your Mercury-is-in-retrograde affirmation.

What are the second-order effects of partisanship? Earlier this week, I released an episode about homelessness and the response was pretty impressive. Many people, including my own family, reached out to share stories of times they got to know homeless neighbors that affected their perception of homelessness permanently. I was so, so thrilled to hear those stories.

But they incited an interesting internal debate for me. I know several of these people who reached out to share their stories to be very conservative. It reminded me of something my Dad (himself very conservative) used to talk about when I was younger: conservatives choose people over problem; liberals choose problem over people.

It’s not hard and fast, and it’s certainly skewed, and it’s not always true. But to me it presents an interesting opportunity for self-reflection. From where I stand on my liberal soapbox, am I just grandstanding for gigantic problems and failing to see the people most impacted? And if I were more conservative, would I take a trees > forest kind of view?

I don’t know, but I wrote about it in my journal so I’m writing about it here, too.

Life is too short to not have lunch dessert. That’s all!

Apathy is never good, but it can be normal. What I mean is—I simply have no idea what’s going on in Washington, D.C., save for the odd political Tweet that crosses my timeline. I know we’re facing some truly major, transformative problems, but I couldn’t tell you precisely what they are or how they’re being solved. Something about a shutdown? I’m uninformed, and I’m not sure how to become more informed. So here I am...not really doing anything about it.

It’s not as if I’m twiddling my online thumbs—I’m just focused on these stories. On Thinking Is Cool episodes. And with a news cycle that moves at approximately the speed of sound, it can feel like an insurmountable challenge to catch up. It doesn't make you a bad person. It just means you have some reading to do...eventually. There’s no shame in admitting you’re not up to date.

Okay one thing about existential crises. I recently read this piece by Not Boring writer Packy McCormick about existentialism and the ways we can apply it to modern thinking...and I urge you to do the same.

And finally, I’m getting a haircut later today. Bangs or no bangs?? I really, truly don’t know what to do and if you love me, you’ll send me ideas. Because right now all I have are low-res screenshots from Pinterest. Thank you! Very much!

And now for a word from my Pluto pillow people...

Don’t get me wrong, I love experimenting with new and “innovative” self-care techniques. Sensory deprivation tanks? I’d try one. Acupuncture subscriptions? Absolutely. But anytime I start A/B testing on my own body and mind, I like to make sure that the techniques I’m using are evidence-based.

That’s why purchasing a pillow from Pluto was such an easy choice for me. Pluto’s pillows are the only custom-built option on the market, and they’re designed based on your body, your sleeping habits, and your preferences.

How does Pluto do it? Before purchasing your pillow, you fill out a questionnaire that informs Pluto on all the most important things about your experience falling and staying asleep. Then, Pluto crafts a perfectly supple, perfectly breathable pillow (that ships for free with a 100-night risk-free trial).

Interested? Let me help you save money on your next evidence-based self-care investment: Use the link www.plutopillow.com/thinking to automatically grab an additional $10 off your first purchase of a Pluto Pillow.

When you’re not organizing your sweaters this weekend, I implore you to do the following:

• Catch up on the last episode of Thinking Is Cool all about the ways we can solve homelessness

• Listen to this episode of The Miss Congeniality podcast on which I was a guest (and also on which I absolutely word vomited about my transition from 9–5 employment to independence) ((with friend of the show and ironic hot girl Eli Rallo))

• Sign up for my upcoming session on the very cool platform Bright—next week, I’m hosting a lil virtual get together to talk all about quitting my job and starting a business (and also answering all of your questions...anything goes)

Go forth and drink your PSLs shamelessly. See you here Monday for a very exciting new episode of Thinking Is Cool.

-Kinsey

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