Welcome back to month three of We’ve Never Been Wrong, a new and exciting explosion of opinion in which two 20-something women attempt to convince their small community of readers that they’ve never been wrong.
As we now have some avid readers, we have decided to include a short updates section to keep you up to date.
First and foremost, Julia is still demolishing in her fantasy football league. She had a loss two weeks ago, but remains at the top with the best record, and this past week was right back to winning. Never fear!
We also would like to inform you that Noah Kahan has been nominated for a Grammy, will be performing on SNL, and has since made a few collaborations including one with Hozier. Further proof to listen to this man’s music and to realize that we have never been wrong.
Silent Creativity by Julia Dwinell
In 2022 I started an embroidery journal which is an idea I got from a creator on Tik Tok. The idea behind an embroidery journal is to stitch one icon every day for the year. I keep an actual written journal where I write down a brief list of what I did that day. This project has been such an amazing way to look back at the year, but also reflect on each day and as monotonous as some of them might be to pick out at least one thing that made it special.
At the end of 2022, I began stitching one icon a day until I had a full 12” hoop full of mini memories. Something that I was not expecting to happen is how I was able to remember what every single icon represented and so essentially I was able to remember at least one thing from every day of that year. The visual and tangible way of looking back on a year was so special and so I have continued it this year. Now I have fallen very far behind as it is now December and I have only just started embroidering for October, but I have kept up with my written journal and am still plugging away at the project.
Now another discovery I made while doing this project leads us to the topic of silence. I tend to fill the space in my days with distractions either in the form of scrolling on social media, listening to audiobooks, watching TV shows, or listening to music. All of this is okay until you realize you went the whole day without really thinking. So a few months ago when I wanted to work on the embroidery journal I didn’t have a book to listen to, a show to watch, or music that inspired me and so I decided to just start embroidering. I figured I would get bored after one icon and have to find something to distract my brain, but actually what ended up happening was that by being focused on the embroidery just enough to not get distracted by other things (needing to clean my room or do the laundry, etc.) I was able to just let my mind wander and follow my train of thought. It was so calming and productive to sit and reflect.
Now don’t get me wrong it is not all sunshine and rainbows in this brilliant head of mine. I have a lot of anxiety and I have the power to convince myself of any and every bad thing no matter how unrealistic, but on a day when I am not experiencing abnormal levels of anxiety (ie. I have managed to not have any caffeine), I can do some critical thinking about my life. I also want to distinguish how important it is to be doing a menial task while attempting this reflection, if you just sit in your house you will get distracted by something or feel like there is a better way to spend your time and move on. If you can go on a walk, sit and sketch, or embroider, or whatever your preferred creative medium may be, but leave all other distractions out of it, you can practice some self-reflection. It is also possible that this is an obvious revelation to most people and that I am just addicted to consuming media constantly, but as we know I have never been wrong, so this is of course, a stroke of genius. I prefer this practice of thinking in silence over journaling because have never been able to find journaling productive - mostly because my inner thoughts should not be written down (she says as she writes a newsletter about her inner thoughts) - because the speed at which you can write and think are different and so you have to slow or halt the flow of your thoughts to write them down you may get stuck on one topic rather than to allow your mind wander.
All this to say, I have several creative practices that I like to fill my time with, but I always pair them with another way to occupy my mind. Yet I have found that the moments I allow for silence I can experience greater self-reflection in ways that can move my life forward as well as aid my creativity. My best ideas for my art have been while on a walk or in the shower or in those moments right before sleep. So I hope you can go practice some silent creativity, but do as I say and not as I do because after I write this I will be going back to my Scandal binge-watch and finishing my 36th audiobook of the year.
December Baby by Bernadette
I’m writing this in my room. It’s December, 11:37pm. It’s quiet in the house. I’ve procrastinated in my writing as usual and my room is a bit messy. I haven’t put my clean clothes away. Dreams yet to be had are brewing in my head. As it is the Holiday season, my mind wanders to the opening lines of A Visit from St. Nicholas, “'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;” This poem turns 200 years old this Christmas. 200 years… Two hundred years…what a long time that seems. The poem opens with silence. And don’t things usually begin with silence; a baby is born, there is silence, and then “there arose such a clatter,” screams of joy and confusion as the baby shouts “I’m here! I'm here!”
It’s true, I will have been “here” for almost 24 years. Not that old… certainly not two hundred years old. Most would call 24 young and I would agree, but 24 is also older than “some…” If 13 year old Bernadette could see me now. Oh dear, what would she think? You see, 13 year old Bernadette was fresh off the run of her second musical experience in which she played “the titular role” of Peter Pan. And let me tell you, she thought this guy Peter had some points; “Never grow up”? That looked pretty great to her. One year, it may have been her 13th … but then again it would have been her 10th birthday… I can’t remember anymore… alas, she created a birthday countdown by hand, beginning 100 days before her birthday. The eve of her birthday, she took down the last sticky note to reveal the final one, “Happy Birthday!” it read. She had made it to “THE” day! Her parents shared in her delights as they tucked her in for the night, “nestled all snug in (her) bed; While visions of sugar-plums danced in (her) head” In the quiet and dark of her room she lay, swaddled like a babe in a manger. It was very quiet… maybe a bit too quiet. There were no more sticky notes to take down tomorrow. She crept out of her room unsure what was the matter. When she reached the bottom of the stairs her parents were confused. What was she doing out of bed? When she began to cry…there was nothing to look forward to anymore. No more sticky notes or presents and it was rather scary to be turning double digits…
Ah yes, young Bernadette, aging can be hard. An elderly customer at the farm, who I helped with his bags, thanked me and sighed “a wink of his eye and a twist of his head, “don’t get old!” he said. Despite my best intentions, aging is not something I’ve discovered how not to do… yet. People try Botox and plastic surgery and yet age comes for one and all.
As a December baby, I finish my journey around the sun in the final month of the year, at the height of the holiday season! Christmas, for those who celebrate, is swiftly flying down the chimney sweep. Santa, our merry father of Christmas representing the old; “His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!” And the birth of Christ, bringing in the new. It’s hard to find deep meaning in the modern media celebrations of Christmas. Loud advertising and silicone celebrities are here to pump joy and good feelings into your veins through an IV drip that’ll cost Americans a pretty penny. Shopping for gifts in crowded malls doesn’t exactly imbue one with the joy of the Holiday season. In our household, we have a tradition; Every Christmas Eve we gather around the old TV in our house, a relic of another age, to watch my favorite Christmas film on VHS, The Little Drummer Boy. This stop motion, Rankin/Bass Production released in 1968 never fails to bring a tear to my eye as the little boy Erin, plays his drum for the new born babe in the manger. It’s not a long film, there's no product placement, no glamor. To be honest, it’s dated, it’s old. Now, I don’t pretend to have any real deep insights on aging, I’m only just turning 24 for goodness sake. One thing I do know is that this December, I will be channeling “the old” before I ring in the new: old movies, old poems, and old Christmas songs. This year for my birthday, I have no plans beyond eating my decadent chocolate mousse cake. It’ll be a quiet birthday. I’ll be letting my thoughts wander, as Julia suggested, over the past year of my life. I might shed a tear, I might not. Getting old is hard, but it also means that I know what a VHS is, so it can’t all be bad.
Julia’s Library
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
My book recommendation this week is a short fiction novel written by two authors about two entities that cannot quite be quantified that write “letters” back and forth throughout space and time. If you are confused by that, there is no better way to explain it, you just have to read it, but believe me when I say this was the most unique book I have ever read and the writing was so beautiful and as abstract as it was you still can follow this amazing love story. I still think I need to read it again to fully grasp its meaning. This is How You Lose the Time War is a small quiet lovely little story that is thought-provoking and enticing and I highly recommend it as an end-of-the-year read if you want to squeeze one more book in before the new year.
Bernadette’s Library
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
It’s a classic of dark academia and the blueprint for those that follow in the genre. Students drawn to study the classics and pulled together by their curious professor. Now, if you’ve spoken to me in the past month you many have sensed my bacchic frenzy for this novel. I devoured it. It was not to be put down until it was finished, with the exceptions of sleep and showers. It’s a must read for the season of classics.
Also, Donna Tartt rocks the smartest black bob and I felt so satisfied in this discovery. I can’t explain why. Just read the book and you’ll get it.
Julia’s Playlist
Yellow Light by Of Monsters and Men
Even though this newsletter was about silence I will suggest one of my favorite songs of all time that only has a few lyrics at the start and then the rest of the song has this amazing music that just builds and builds and I think could be a great jumping off point in your self-reflection journey. This song can capture my attention no matter what I am doing, i have loved it since its release in 2011.
Bernadette’s Playlist
Edudae by Enya
Those of you who are unfamiliar with my great affinity for Enya, just know, no part of my love, is of a meme-ish nature. I have a very serious love for Enya. Now, as bread is to butter and coffee is to cream, Enya is to midwinter. It just makes sense. The song is a weaving chant and the rhythmic vocalization which summons the essence of these working women. As the Gaelic translation confirms,
“Look, women are working each day and into the night, they sing of the brighter days that were, the long road, back and forth forever”
As the night creeps into the day, stealing our precious sunlight, I too dream of the brighter days as I bust down to the ancient chants of yester-yor.
I just made that word up. Shakespeare would be proud.
Once again a fantastic article! -Emma Y