Hey friend,
Happy first couple weeks of spring 🌸. As is tradition in Pause-land, below you’ll find a round-up of resource recommendations from the past few months. This list reflects the books, essays, podcasts, shows, videos, and experiences that had a positive impact on me and others subscribed to The Pause over the past three months (a big thank you for those who shared your recs with me ❤️).
Explore what looks interesting and if you happen to read, watch, or listen to something that positively affects you these next few months please don’t shy away from sharing.
Love today and every day,
~ L
P.S. A reminder about formatting…
Each recommendation will have a brief description and link to access it.
If a recommendation has a “*” next to it, it means it has been recommended before or was recommended twice this time around.
P.P.S. You can revisit the past year’s recommendations below:
🎧 Listening Recommendations
Podcasts
Elizabeth Gilbert On Her Most Important Daily Practice | We Can Do Hard Things
An enjoyable hour-plus of dear friends talking through life while Liz Gilbert also happens to share her (life-changing) daily habit of writing a letter to herself from love. Highly, highly recommend. After listening, if you end up wanting more of this vibe check out when Glennon shares her letter and when Amanda shares her letter.
How Dare You Speak to Me That Way | Good Inside with Dr. Becky
I’ve listened to this three times through since the start of this year because I find it to be that helpful. A captivating conversation exploring different options besides yelling, timeouts, or threats when dealing with our kids when they’re engaging in rude behavior. Gems on gems on gems.
Three Hidden Brain episodes:
Hidden Brain has so many gems, but here’s a few I really enjoyed these past few months:
1) The Enemies of Gratitude
This episode explicitly states many of the things we know are keeping us from gratitude, and drops those type of wisdom nuggets that are simple but powerful like, “It’s often easier to focus on what’s going wrong than on what’s going right,” and, “If you’re feeling resentful you can’t feel grateful.” A look-in-the-mirror and adjust accordingly kind of listen.
2) Finding Focus
If you find yourself struggling to stay focused in our ever-increasingly distracting world, this episode is a wonderful listen. A dive into how our devices are altering our brains and, more importantly, what we can do to protect our brains from losing the ability to focus.
3) The Paradox of Pleasure
This two-part episode pairs well with the Finding Focus episode in that it discusses how our brains change when we are compulsively consuming things for dopamine hits (this could be substances, books, social media—anything addictive). An insightful dive into how the majority of us are overdoing it on pleasure and how we can overcome the lure of addictive substances/behaviors. Part two can be found here.
Music
GOLDEN | Jung Kook
Jung Kook was a staple in our house all winter. This album gives me very FutureSex/Love Sounds in the way it grooves. The remixes (Standing Next to You with Usher and 3D with Justin Timberlake) are 🔥.
eternal sunshine | Ariana Grande
This album is powerful and succinct. Grande’s storytelling ability shines through on every song. No fluff. Just good music. An album full of “sad bops” as she says in her interview with Zach Sang, I appreciate and admire how truthful Grande is in her experience of divorce without explicitly dragging her ex (i wish i hated you, perfect example of this). This track-by-track breakdown of the album is also a joy. Brilliance all around.
Everything I Thought It Was | Justin Timberlake
F**kin’ Up The Disco. No Angels. What Lovers Do. I meeeeeeeeaaaaannnnnnn. THIS IS THE JT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Love to hear him back on his Timbaland-esque vibe. A sexy, playful listen for anyone wanting to hop on.
📖 Reading Recommendations
Books
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir | Maggie Smith
https://maggiesmithpoet.com/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/
This. Read. Smith is a poet, and man, does it come through in her memoir. This was one of those books I purposefully read slow because I wanted to savor every word. From her website, “…an unflinching look at what it means to live and write our own lives. It is a story about a mother’s fierce and constant love for her children, and a woman’s love and regard for herself. Above all, this memoir is an argument for possibility. With a poet’s attention to language and an innovative approach to the genre, Smith reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new. Something beautiful.” Highly, highly recommend.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath-book
I started reading this book at the recommendation of my MBSR instructor (more on that below), and it has been a fascinating ride of a read that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. From his website: “Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance, rejuvenate internal organs, halt snoring, allergies, asthma, and autoimmune disease, and even straighten scoliotic spines…Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.” If you enjoy health/wellness reads, this is an excellent choice.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times | Katherine May
https://katherine-may.co.uk/wintering
I loved this read, especially to pair with the winter season and my recovery year. From her website: “In Wintering, Katherine May recounts her own year-long journey through winter, sparked by a sudden illness in her family that plunged her into a time of uncertainty and seclusion. When life felt at is most frozen, she managed to find strength and inspiration from the incredible wintering experiences of others as well as from the remarkable transformations that nature makes to survive the cold. This beautiful, perspective-shifting memoir teaches us to draw from the healing powers of the natural world and to embrace the winters of our own lives.” Highly recommend, especially if you’re someone who struggles with rest and retreat.
Essays
This is 54: Author Elizabeth Gilbert Responds to The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire | Oldster
Liz Gilbert is it y’all. Everything she writes and puts out into the world shimmers, and this interview is no different. I love her perspective on aging.
5 absolute truths I’ve learned in 10 years as a parenting editor | Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/five-truths-about-parenting/
A lovely post put together by the chief parenting editor at The Washington Post. I appreciated and enjoyed reading through her five truths. A quick and impactful reset of a read.
The Tail End | Wait Buy Why
https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html
I kind of wanted to cry after this read, in a really good way. A beautiful reminder to savor every part of life because it’ll pass us by before we know it.
📺 Viewing Recommendations
YouTube
Standing Next To You - USHER Remix | Jung Kook
A VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIBE. I fell in love with this choreo when Jung Kook performed on Jimmy Fallon, but adding Usher to the mix?? Not fair how hard this hits.
Justin Timberlake: Tiny Desk Concert | NPR Music
This performance is truly a joy. JT did an excellent job at choosing and mixing songs from his past and present. Opening with Señorita? It just kicked things off right. Please also check him out on Jimmy Fallon performing with classroom instruments if you’re looking to smile.. too good.
Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu Full 3-Point Challenge | 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend | Bleacher Report
My dad recommended this video to me (hi Dad!) and I’m so grateful that he did. It’s the beauty of sports captured in a video. I loved rooting for Sabrina Ionescu and watching her and Curry hug it out after the competition. She crushed it (and, of course, so did he). A+ feeling content.
On My Mama | Victoria Monét
This video has all the nostalgia from a 90s/00s music videos, but with a modern twist. The dancing is top notch (the long jacket swap?! what EVEN) and the lyrics are playful and confident. Love her. Love this video. Watch for a good time.
Streaming
Joy Ride | Prime (or wherever else you stream things)
If you enjoy raunchy comedy, please watch this. Parts of this movie had me crying from laughing so hard. Produced by Seth Rogen. Preview here. If it intrigues you, give it a shot.
✨ Experience Recommendations
Classes
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction | UCSF Osher Center
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction-class
I just completed this eight-week course a couple of weeks ago, and wow. It changed my approach to life and stress in a real way. It’s part meditation practice, part textbook study (Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn), part group practice/therapy, and, in my opinion, worth every dollar. I am noticeably less stressed and more resilient to new stress. This video gives a great glimpse into the class (you’ll get the gist after the first forty minutes or so—it also beautifully captures the 90s). Wish everyone could take this class because the tools really made that big of an impact on me and my mental wellness.
Substacks
Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert | Liz Gilbert
Liz writes herself a letter from love every morning. In her Substack, she has her friends write themselves a letter from love and then shares it with her community every Sunday. It has become the sunshine in my inbox on Sunday mornings along with reading the comments (all people sharing their own love letters to themselves). It’s a beautiful corner of the internet that I highly recommend to you all. I have especially loved Toni Collette’s letter on being seen, Glennon Doyle’s letter on forgiveness, and Martha Beck’s letter on being lost.