Fellow White People - Let's Start Educating Ourselves

2020 has been a year, and it’s only June. But I have seen several posts about how maybe 2020 is what we all needed to start making some changes. 

I am a listener. I have always been the quiet, shy observer. I’m worried I’ll get the facts wrong. I don’t like confrontation. But I love to educate myself and grow as a person. 

I’m from a small town in Iowa and while I’d like to think I’ve always been loving and accepting, the more I learn the more I realize I need to learn. Just saying to yourself “Oh I’m not racist, homophobic, transphobic (the list goes on)” isn’t enough. 

Step one is educating yourself and honestly, that’s where I am. I feel guilty that I’m not one of those badass women who speak out against human rights violations. 

I’m working on letting go of my fear of confrontation and pissing people off because you’re probably going to piss people off if you want to make change happen. 

But enough about me today. I wanted to start sharing some recommendations that I have come across in the past weeks. And I want to add to this list as I learn more. 

Educate yourselves! 

I’m serious. Even if you feel like you know enough, I promise you don’t even understand the tip of the iceberg in all of this. 

A video I saw shared in an Instagram story that I think is worth a watch for my fellow white women is Dani Callerio’s “speaking honestly about my own racism.” 

Let’s start with some black women owned period product companies (I know there are more but I can’t find the tweet that listed others. Feel free to share any you know of!)

+ Ruby Love  (underwear, swimsuits, leggings and pads)

+ The Honey Pot (cups, organic tampons and pads)

+ Nene’s FemHealth (cups)

In searching for black women owned period product companies I came across Happy Period Org, a charity giving period products to underserved communities. So, of course, I have to share them because I love anyone sharing period products with those who need them. 

Next up on my list of recommendations is thanks to Daysy who shared a list of black women who are menstrual health experts and practitioners (once again share any more you know of): 

@bribraggs - Bri is a body literacy coach (fertility, pregnancy and motherhood)

@ericachidi - Erica is the ceo and co-founder of Loom, and author of “Nurture”

@berrionlberry - Berrion is a pms and period coaching, and host of Flow With Berrion Berry podcast

@statusflow.co - Vianney is a period coach and host of the podcast Periods and Power Moves

@biancapattrson - Bianca runs wellness retreat and online course “From Barren to Fertile” 

@drheatherirobundamd - Heather is an OB/GYN who shares educational content on common period problems

@eatlovemove - Le’Nise is a nutritionist and yoga teacher working to help women fix period pain and hormonal problems and hosts the Period Story podcast

@fertilityfriday - Lisa is the author of the book The Fifth Vital Sign, host of the podcast The Fertility Friday Podcast, Holistic Health Practitioner and Fertility Awareness Educator

@coachgessie - Gessie is a nutritionist and health coach - address fibroids holistically

@coachjolinda - Jolinda is a certified holistic health coach

And finally, so many films, shows, and books have been shared on social media. I try to screenshot them so I can start working my way through the list. I haven’t watched/read all of these but nevertheless I’m sharing them. 

This weekend we watched 13th on Netflix and my oh my it’s a must-see. 

I had no idea. 

There are so many things I’ve learned on my own accord that I just ask myself “Why weren’t we taught this in school?” 

Other’s I saw that were recommended:

American Son (Netflix)

Dear White People (Netflix, YouTube, Prime)

If Beale Street Could Talk (Prime, Hulu, YouTube)

King in the Wilderness (Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, YouTube)

See you Yesterday (Netflix)

The Hate U Give (Prime, Hulu, Youtube)

When They See Us (Netflix)

Who Killed Malcolm X (Netflix)

Time: The Kalief Browder Story (Netflix)

Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap (Netflix)

Just Mercy (Free online for the month of June)

Books:

(So far I have ordered White Fragility and How to be Anti-Racist)

Other recommendations:

The New Jim Crow 

Divided Sisters 

The Bluest Eye 

Their Eyes Were Watching God 

They Can’t Kill Us All 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 

Fatal Invention 

Locking Up Our Own 

The Miner’s Canary 

The Wretched of the Earth 

Between the World and Me 

If They Come For Us 

Solitary 

Me and White Supremacy 

This is about educating ourselves. Like so many have said: It is a privilege to educate yourself about privilege. So do it. 

And for the love of all things good get out there and vote if you can.  

Books | Shows | Movies I've Read/Watched Recently

I was just going to write a post to share the books I’ve read recently, but for whatever reason I either can’t recall all the books I’ve read since the last post like this, or I haven’t read that many. So instead I decided to share three books, shows and movies that I saw recently that I enjoyed. 

BOOKS

Like a Mother — This one was recommended by Ingrid Nielsen and I couldn’t agree more. Even if you’re not looking to have a kid anytime soon I think it’s fascinating to read about the culture surrounding pregnancy and motherhood. All of the press and expectations to be perfect. 

Educated — This is a memoir by Tara Westover and a fascinating read. We all had pretty similar upbringings, but she came from a survivalist family who didn’t believe in public education. It reminds me of Glass Castle in simply the aspect of having parents who went against the norm. But it’s a great journey through her struggle getting an education eventually and dealing with the aftermath of her family and upbringing. 

The Great Alone — Not a true story, but a great tale nonetheless. It’s told from the perspective of a teenage girl with an abusive father. He decides to take the family to Alaska to live off the grid. It’s a great story about community, wilderness and survival. 

SHOWS

You — We’ve all heard of it by now. It was actually Michael that started watching it first, and then I caught up on the first two episodes so we could watch it together during our first week in Phoenix. Stressful, frustrating, but interesting. Also creepy because of the potential that this actually happens. 

Sexual Education — I just watched this one. I love British shows and I love anything to do with puberty, growing up, and things like that. And it’s not stressful at all so it’s a good one to combat other shows and movies out there. 

The Haunting of Hill House — I watched this one finally a month or so ago after several friends were talking about it. You see, I’m a chicken so I started watching this in the middle of the day with plenty of sunlight, and I skipped past the scary parts to see what happens without terrifying myself. And it’s not super scary actually once you understand what types of jump and scares to expect. 

MOVIES

Birdbox — Another one that everyone has watched. Reminds me of A Quiet Place and other movies where there’s some unknown force that comes in and you have to do something like blindfold yourself or not make any noise to survive. I’m not a huge fan of Sandra Bullock’s character, but I enjoyed the movie. 

Made to be Broken — I love documentaries about running, hiking, climbing, outdoor adventures in general. And this one is about Karl Meltzer who is trying to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. I’m fascinated by the AT and PCT so I love watching things about them. Also ultra marathon runners fascinate me. 

On the Basis of Sex — I love Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Felicity Jones who played her in this film. And while I’ve read a book on RBG before it was such an amazing film to see. Not to mention I teared up at the end. I won’t spoil it by saying why. And people clapped after it ended. Highly recommend. 

What recommendations do you have for me?  I’m a big fan of shows or movies that deal with outdoor adventure, ultra marathoners, and I really enjoyed both Sex Education and The Haunting of Hill House which are very different shows.

Books I've Been Reading | Nov 2018

Usually once a season I like to write a blog post to share the books I’ve read recently. I always find recommendations and inspiration in other’s book lists. 

So, without revealing any spoilers these are the books I picked up recently. 

The Power — This is the book I’m currently reading, and loving. Obama recommended it. I would call it a female utopian novel set in modern times. The power starts with the teenage girls and spreads into the older women. Do the women take over? Are men pissed off? You’re going to have to read it to find out. (I highly recommend this book). 

The Power of Habit — I’m also simultaneously reading this book, and it was the perfect read leading up to my 30 Day Morning Challenge. I thought it was going to talk about creating habits, but it’s really the science (?) behind habits. (Another one I recommend)

You are a Badass at Making Money — I love a good book about personal finance and money mindset and this one does not disappoint. If you’ve never worked through your mindset and attitude surrounding money, now is the time. I always find that stuff starts “happening” after I read these sorts of books. (Yup, recommend it). 

The Artist’s Way — I only made it a few chapters into this book. I was curious because this is where a lot of people say morning pages originated from, but I guess if you already do them there’s not really anything new in this book. But if you’ve just started doing morning pages or are looking into them than this book might be good for you. (I give it a “meh”)

Girl Wash Your Face — This was one of those books that was OK but just really wasn’t speaking to me when I was reading it. And there are so many books out there waiting to be read that I didn’t want to waste my time feeling blah about this book. (A lot of people like it so don’t rely on my opinion). 

We Should All Be Feminists — This was a quick read, but that’s not the only reason you should read it. It is an essay adapted from her TEDx Talk. (Go read it)

Red Clocks — This feels like a precursor to Handmaids Tale in that abortion is illegal in the US in this book. It’s told from several viewpoints and I really enjoyed it. (Another highly recommend)

Astrology 101 — This is a random one on this list, but a cute little book that’s quick to flip through. I love learning about Astrology, but it still feels a bit over my head. This book really breaks it up for you, but it’s one that you should buy rather than check out from the library. (Recommend)

A Darker Shade of Magic — This is the first book I read on the Libby app on our iPad. I was always a staunch “nothing but real books” sort of gal, but there is something so convenient about having books on an iPad. And it’s something I highly recommend for travel. But anyways this book was good. It’s about magic, about different parallel worlds and a magical person who can travel through them. (Recommend it)

Ok, well those are the books I’ve read over the past couple of months. Let me know some of your favorite books that you recommend down below. 

If you want to see a list of my recommended books, check out my bookshelf. 

[This post contains affiliate links meaning if you buy one of these books from this link I get a teeny tiny kick back at no extra cost to you. ]

I'm a Big Fan of Making Lists

I love writing things out to think through them. 

+ shopping list

+ want list

+ what I’m going to make that week for food

+ what I need to get done for work

+ my plan of attack to clean my apartment

And so on and so forth.

There’s definitely something about physically handwriting out a list, especially if I’m brainstorming something. 

And then once I have brain barfed it all out I can then go in and organize the items or tasks into where they need to be stored so I can actually make it happen. 

They usually get sorted either into my bullet journal, my Evernote or my latest addition, Wunderlist. 

I recently decided I wanted to find a new (to me) app for creating lists, and I finally ended up downloading Wunderlist. 

And I’ve switched over a whole bunch of lists into it to better organize them. 

I have created folders, and some of my favorites are:

+ creating videos (checklists for before I film, while I film and after I film)

+ books to read (everything from self-help to business and fiction)

+ content ideas (for FemmeHead, for my second channel and for the blog) 

The checklists for creating videos has allowed me to make sure I’m remembering to check my audio, set my ISO and everything correctly to get the best possible footage. And if I’m ever just on the struggle bus I can go to that list and be told what I need to do. 

Now, the lists for books I want to read has probably been my favorite project I’ve taken on with Wunderlist. So, before I just had the book titles in a document on Evernote, but I never really used that list because it was just a bunch of titles and I could never remember what the books were about. 

So, in my Wunderlist I have gone through and added the book summary under the notes tab for that item, as well as whether my local library has it. And if it does I add the call number, and if it doesn’t I add the Amazon link for that book. 

Yeah, I know, amazing right? 

I’ve had an ongoing content ideas list for a few years now, but I’ve taken it one step further on my Wunderlist and started brainstorming 'future' future content ideas, like beyond the upcoming month. 

And by that I mean I have lists under a “Content Ideas” folder such as:

+ fall 

+ winter

+ lifestyle

+ cycles

+ charting

+ business

+ second channel ideas

It’s awesome to have separate categories for my content ideas, that way I can go through and say man, I really need to brainstorm cycle related topics. Plus they’re organized, duh. And now for the next five months I can go off of a base list of ideas that I’ve come up with for fall and winter. 

Moral of the story is make lists, but find a way to organize them in such a way that you can actually use all that awesome brainstorming power for good. 

It doesn’t do me any good if I have all these ideas tucked in some wrinkled notebook forgotten in the bottom of my desk drawer. Nope,k I’ve taken them and put them in an easily accessible location that I won’t forget about. 

What are your lists you couldn’t live without and what’s your favorite place to organize them? 

Organizing My Reading List + A Reading App

Ok, so I originally wanted to write a blog post about the books I’ve read lately, but honestly only two have stood out:

+ The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

+ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

But there have been two developments in my reading sphere which I feel compelled to share. 

So, first off is how I’ve reorganized my reading list, of books I want to read. 

I had just kept them in a document on my Evernote, but I recently started using Wunderlist and that’s where I’ve moved them all. And it has been amazing and so much more usable. 

So I have created a folder “Books to Read” and within that folder are lists of the types of books such as self-help, cycle/body, lifestyle, business, fiction and so on. 

Then once you click on the list, say fiction for example it takes you to the actual list of books. I have 14 books on my fiction list at the moment. 

I then took the time to add whether that book was available at my library and what the call number was, and if it wasn’t available at the library I included a shorted link to the book on Amazon. 

And then, what I’m most proud of, is I added the little summary of the book that came with it on Amazon or the library. 

So, now I can go into my list, click on a book and be reminded what it is about and whether it’s at my library or not. 

Revolutionary. 

Before I just had giant lists of books I would make and then I couldn’t remember looking back at them what any of the books were about so they were pretty useless. 

The next discovery I made was an app called Libby. I’ve downloaded it onto our iPad mini and can now access a ton of digital and audio books using my library card.

This is going to be amazing for travel because I love having books to read, but they are so bulky, heavy and just take up space in my luggage, especially on longer trips. 

We always bring the iPad anyways but now that I can read books, or listen to books on it, amazing.  

So, two books I’ve got cued up for this current trip:

+ A Darker Shade of Magic

+ Girl Through Glass

Oh, and I should also mention that you can tag books you want to read at some point and you can look back at that list in Libby. 

Super cool. 

What book tricks am I still missing out on?

Books I've Read This Year | January + February

One of my best friend’s and I started our little two-person book club, and I’ve toyed with the idea of starting an online book club (plus a lot of you have asked for it). But since I haven’t gotten around to actually doing that, nor do I know if I want to, I have just tried to share the books I’ve been reading that I enjoy on here.

I always look to other’s “What I’ve Been Reading” as inspiration for what to pick up next. And I always find some fantastic books. So, today I wanted to share what I’ve read so far in 2018. 

I always love picking up a book or two to read when I travel, and I was torn between getting two or three books with me to Sri Lanka. I ended up choosing two, but I wish I would have brought three. 

There was a lot of laying outside in the warmth reading. It was delicious and such a nice treat after being burrowed up in Iowa. 

So, the two books I brought with me were both about WWII (I didn't do that on purpose), and I can’t recommend the both of them enough. 

The first one I read was, We Were the Lucky Ones, which is about a Polish family torn apart during the war, fighting to survive, wondering what the fate of their family was and working to reunite after the war.

We’ve all learned about WWII in school, the holocaust, concentration camps and the awful things that happened. But I learned so much in reading this book about the horrors outside the concentration camps. How everything changed before, how people didn’t believe it was going to get that bad. How friends who had grown up together turned their backs on their Jewish friends.

It’s one of those books that pulls you apart and then puts you back together again. 

It took me only a few days to tear through the first book, but after I finished that I reached for the second book I brought along, Under a Scarlet Sky. 

This one was about a teenage boy in Italy during WWII. He was a privileged kid who ended up being involved in the war in a few ways that didn’t involve going to battle. 

Before reading this I never really knew much about Italy during the war, and I felt like I learned quite a bit. It also makes me think of myself at that age, how much I’ve matured since then, and what would have happened if I were put in that position. 

He became a driver for one of Hitler’s Generals in an effort by his family to keep him off the front lines when he turned 18, which was basically a death sentence at the time.  

Who knows why I was drawn towards two books about WWII, but I’m very glad I went with both of them. I learned so much and got different perspectives I hadn’t heard known about before. 

I started reading the free excerpt from this next book while I was still in Sri Lanka. I’m not sure why but something about buying a digital copy of a book vs a physical book doesn’t feel the same for me. I like physical copies of things. 

Anyways, I started reading the first 65 pages of The Girl With All the Gifts during our last week in Sri Lanka, and when I got home I checked it out from the library. It was like not getting to finish a movie on the plane ride, you have to find a way to finish it just to know what happens. 

This was actually a pretty quick, easy read. I could pick it up and read a few chapters before bed without really having to use that much brain power. And I was finished in just a few days. 

I’m normally not one for zombie plots, but this one was different. I won’t say much more about it because I would start giving stuff away. I don't know how people normally become zombies in other plots but this one was through a type of fungus. This story combines trying to survive with working to find a "cure". 

And I wasn’t expecting the ending, but I also wish they would have gone a bit further with the ending. It just felt a bit abrupt, and I wanted more explanation. 

All in all, it wasn’t the most thought-provoking read, but it really wasn’t bad either. (Like I said I'm not normally a zombie story person). Sometimes it’s nice to just have an easy, entertaining read in between more difficult ones. 

We Were the Lucky Ones was probably my favorite, but was followed closely by Under a Scarlet Sky. If you're looking for a good book to read I recommend both of those. 

Any favorite reads from this year so far?