What’s something you held on to for a long time but realized at some point that you need to let go?
Sunny Side Updates with The Brain is a Noodle || Week 28
As we’re rushing towards the end of April, I’m realizing that perhaps I already misspoke and only I am rushing towards the end of the month and to everyone else, it’s just an ordinary month. Is it silly that for the 22nd year in my life, time is governed by my academic semesters?
I realize that life doesn’t work that way outside of school walls. But having spent 82% of my life in school I also can’t fathom that years are neatly chopped into segments with a known ending (i.e., finals).
But I suppose businesses have “quarters”?
Either way, this weird concept of time is something I will eventually have to let go of. So is the notion that 10:10 am is recess (see footnote).
🔊 Also, before I launch into the official shortform prompt of the week, I wanted to take the time to encourage all to check out the “Amplify voices” section of this update this week.
Shortform Theme of the Week
This week’s shortform theme is: what is something (tangible or not) that you held on to for a long time but realized at some point that you need to let go? It could be a habit, an object, a person in your life, a memory…
Submit your shortform piece (<150 words) now to share your thoughts!
This is just a guideline for inspiration! You may submit shortforms related to other concepts if other ideas come to you! :)
🌠 Ongoing Adventure Fiction Series!
I’ve finally launched a project that my child self has always wanted to do: create a collaborative never-ending story with branch-offs into multiple different storylines!
I’m so excited to see what direction this story will take so please don’t be shy about submitting!
Here is chapter 1!
For the most recent chapters, search “#OngoingAdventure” below! (PC users, CTRL+F is your friend. Mac users, 🤷♀️, I’m going to guess it’s CMD+F?)
✍ April Essay/Creative Non-Fiction Prompt
We will now accept essay submissions that are fewer than 2500 words that fit with the monthly prompt!
As an avid podcast listener (and someone in the midst of launching one — what, wait, no, shh, you didn’t read that, it’s a secret!), I’m really interested in your creative non-fiction pieces on the topic of: podcasts!
Some questions to mull over:
- What kinds of podcasts are your favourite?
- Is there some commonality among all the podcasts you listen to?
- How has listening to podcasts changed your life?
This prompt is active from now (yes, now! ) until April 30th, 2021, 3pm EST.
The Brain is a Noodle*
*This is factually incorrect. Please absolutely do not go out and eat brains.
🍜 Piping Hot New(dle) Pieces of the Week
Challenge: *highlight* the ones you bookmarked/ read and make sure everyone gets highlighted at least once! ❤
🧠🍜 [1] Happy Where I’m Planted — My Response to the Meaning of “Home” by Michael Burg, MD (AKA Medium Michael Burg) ‘There’s nowhere I HAVE to be until July 12th, 2021 at 9AM. So I’m about to wander.’
🧠🍜 [2] Home Is Beautiful Because I Can See The Real Myself by Brajendra ‘Home is the best place in the world for me even my home does not big space, is not much decorated, not beautiful but when I am at home I see myself in love, happiness, safe, relaxed and full of hope.’
🧠🍜 [3] Giving Meaning To My Home by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘A home is a place where you feel happy, comforted and relaxed. We often say ‘home sweet home’, because this is the place we love.’
🧠🍜 [4] The Ides of March by Adam Deitsch ‘I must say, I’m impressed. I’m impressed with myself, and I’m impressed with the amount of positive response I’ve been getting.’
🧠🍜 [5] Victim by Spirit ‘they have not told you you gotta be a victim before you can be a survivor because pain makes you a victim.’
🧠🍜 [6] Do Education & Certifications Mean You’re Smarter than Others? by Katrina Bos ‘Getting a higher education was the primary goal in school. The “smart” kids went to University. The “smart” kids got degrees. But is this true?’
🧠🍜 [7] Everything is Made of Energy and Matter by Emily Wilcox ‘That bottle of bleach beside your toilet. That veggie lasagna. The jawline of Robert Pattinson. The scab on your knee. That thought you just had. The thing you feel in the bottom of your heart. That memory. That hope. That penis-shaped magnet from Amsterdam.’
🧠🍜 [8] Home by Courtenay S. Gray ‘When I say that I am going home, I mean that I am returning to the place where the monsters come out to play. When I was a child, my small town became so vast that it was impossible to imagine anything else.’
🧠🍜 [9] Homeward Bound, Is Me by Will Hull ‘Within the neighbourhood of Medium, ‘home’ is on everyone’s mind The current pandemic leaving us so weary It has pulled us beyond thinking about what was, To what will be’
🧠🍜 [10] I Wasn’t Meant To Be An Art Model by Jennifer McDougall ‘“Stay still!” Her shout echoes through the mainly empty penthouse, earth quaking crystal stemware. I stare at the tiny ripples spreading from the center as though a tiny pebble had been dropped into the pinot grigio.’
🧠🍜 [11] I Love Lucy’s Pub by Carlos Garbiras ‘Lucy, I got some egg-splaining’ to do. It’ not what the Watusi is. I had to Google that, too.’
🧠🍜 [12] Ambience by Dr. Fatima Imam ‘Ethereal soft tunes of the golden flute’
🧠🍜 [13] Universe by Jen ‘let us lie down on the bed and stare at the empty black blanket that the world calls ‘the sky’’
🧠🍜 [14] My Childhood Bedroom by Crystalclearcandace ‘When I was a child I didn’t have a bedroom. My mom and I slept in one room, and ate there as well. Cockroaches fell on our heads in the night, when the light was turned off.’
🧠🍜 [15] Impermanence by Spirit ‘life is such a peculiar thing. so precious. so fragile. so take-able. so give-able. we really do take it for granted, don’t we? That was a rhetorical question.’
🧠🍜 [16] Overwhelmed by Alan Henley ‘Overwhelmed with awe in the midst of this creation (the amoeba, the galaxies these printed words the dog’s wagging tail) Immersed in this manifestation this re-presentation of the ineffable’
🧠🍜 [17] Heartstopper by Courtenay S. Gray ‘We cannot begin to let them know, before they hit the pubs and clubs. With drinks and mixers, cherry sourz and lemonade.’
🧠🍜 [18] Half a Night-Light by Matt Ray ‘Half a night-light Up in the sky Surrounded by milky white clouds’
🧠🍜 [19] A Room of My Own by Kim McKinney ‘A room of my own, Was not a possibility, A dream of much futility, Until I turned 16.’
🧠🍜 [20] The Choir by Jenine Bsharah Baines ‘Carolyn Hastings , creator of the Twittle, has been nudging me to tackle one. (It’s been a while.) Five lines, 100 letters. Carolyn finds them effortless; I wrestle for hours.’
🧠🍜 [21] A 78 Word Short Story by Humaira Iqbal ‘She was tired. Her eyes felt heavy and threatened to close, but she tried her best to soldier on and get some work done.’
🧠🍜 [22] Reflection by Jen ‘It was in that moment when she realized how valuable life was’
🧠🍜 [23] Regrets by Spirit ‘In that moment I realized, I was no different in that moment than him. No different than all the men and women, just like him. Could it be that easy to be human? How will I ever forgive myself? Does it always have to involve going to the source?’
🧠🍜 [24] There’s a Hole In My Heart I Must Mend by Matt Ray ‘There’s a hole in my heart I must mend A boater’s bung might do to stop the leak that sprung there’
🧠🍜 [25] Half-Truth or Complete Lie! by Meenal Gupta ‘What makes people hide stuff from their loved ones? Is it the lack of understanding or the fear of hurting them? But what if they get to know the actual story from someone else? Isn’t that even more complicated?’
🧠🍜 [26] ✨ #OngoingAdventure: A Glowing Reception by Adam Deitsch ‘Interesting as it may be to have an anonymously addressed envelope literally arrive at your doorstep — especially one looking so official and fancy with its wax seal — you’ve seen plenty of official-looking things in the mail before and they usually wind up being advertisements for an internet or cable plan. It’s probably a fundraiser for the entomological society…’
🧠🍜 [27] Forever in a Moment by Dana Sanford ‘In this moment- so much time the senses take in so much’
🧠🍜 [28] Birthday Wishes by Courtenay S. Gray ‘No amount of wishing, no amount of therapy can bring you back. Sometimes I wish I’d never met you, would it be easier that way?’
🧠🍜 [29] While I Sing Under the Rain by Pablo Pereyra ‘But my breath scent is jasmine, My saliva is like creeks, Of running spring mountain waters, On a hot summer day: Your body.’’
🧠🍜 [30] Sit and Be Still by Jay Avery ‘Sit and be still. allow your breath to spill, Forth from your lungs, Like galaxies far flung.’
🧠🍜 [31] Fax by Courtenay S. Gray ‘It was a Tuesday evening when the fax machine started printing papers in a frenzied fashion. ‘
🧠🍜 [32] Pen -To-Paper Warfare by Spirit ‘The message is the mission this is what we’re fighting for our voices gentler than most writing is the revolution’
🧠🍜 [33] #Ongoing Adventure: The Hungry Stranger by Courtenay S. Gray ‘You cannot resist the temptation of opening the mysterious letter now. The paper inside is a lovely pale green colour, adorned with striking symbols along the edges.’
🧠🍜 [34] A — Z Poem by Humaira Iqbal ‘Archives broken, smashed within no reach Buildings claiming to sanctify their own Climbing, demanding answers no one is giving Digressing each time from a sample’s width Every formation leads to success’
🧠🍜 [35] Burning Pages by Courtenay S. Gray ‘Pages scattered across the floor, pickings from different books. The potato peeler rested against your knee, ready to pick away at the scabs covering your lips.’
🧠🍜 [36] #Ongoing Adventure: The letter by R. Rangan PhD ‘No return address. Odd. You thought to yourself — who could this be from? You picked it up and left it on the counter next to the egg boiler and then got distracted by the ringing on the phone.’
🧠🍜 [37] Brain Dump by Jen ‘Safety has been a concern A lot of emotions are running through my mind Like a faucet that has been broken And no one has noticed its dents and cracks …even though it has been broken for a long time.’
🧠🍜 [38] Hermit by Spirit ‘My sound was out of reach there but gone like life, alive inside me’
🧠🍜 [39] You’ve Got A Friend In Me by Divina Grey ‘In the month of May and the rest of April for that matter I will practice self-care’
🧠🍜 [40] Fear’s Source by Naomi Leilani Acosta ‘I made up fear It has no power apart from me’
🧠🍜 [41] Life of a Mermaid by Tatum Hamernik ‘Ocean breath I breathe you in so sweet I dangle my toes into the sea’
🧠🍜 [42] #OngoingAdventure: Take A Friend Along by Jennifer McDougall ‘Who sends a letter asking you to meet at 6pm outlining their McDonald’s breakfast of choice? How can you resist meeting such a creative, hungry soul?’
🧠🍜 [43] #Ongoing Adventure: The Master of Syllables by Adam Deitsch ‘It had been a long day and you were exhausted. Were being the operative word here. “Why would someone send me a random invitation as a haiku,” you ask aloud to an empty room.’
🧠🍜 [44] How to Make Six Figures in One Month on Medium by Adam Deitsch ‘Find a publication with a lot of readers.’
🧠🍜 [45] The chase by Jac Gautreau ‘Sometimes I chase the rhyme Through the bushes, round the bend Just a slave to its design Can’t deliver, can’t pretend’
🧠🍜 [46] Just Being by Spirit ‘We have forgotten how to stop and look at the flowers. Feed birds. because we’re always in a rush. We preach so much about “being in the present moment” but which of us really knows what that means? Are you present when your head’s in a phone?’
🧠🍜 [47] #Ongoing Adventure: Call Back And Insist It Isn’t A Dream by Jennifer McDougallll ‘Spying the radiation-like glow blasting from the waste paper basket, an unease settles into every bone in your body. You are NOT dreaming despite what Reveille claims.’
🧠🍜 [48] Cleverness & Wisdom by Alan Henley ‘Cleverness is bought and sold in the bright rush and clamor of the marketplace.’
🔊 Voices to Amplify
Amidst Derek Chauvin’s trial for George Floyd’s death emerged the stories of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, who were shot and killed by police. I’m noticing that the discussion and importantly the agitation for change in mainstream media (and social media) is fizzling out, yet nothing substantial has truly changed and these shootings continued to happen.
BLM is not a trend. Black and brown lives continue to matter; anti-racism work is lifelong. Please take the time to continue reading, sharing and agitating for change.
Articles to read
Medium Publications to follow
The Eggcademic Corner
🥓 Quick brEGGfast Bites
What I’m watching: The Tale of the Nine-Tailed (kdrama)
What I’m reading: The Year of Yes — Shonda Rhimes
What I’m listening to: Even For a Moment — Cheeze
S🍳mething to chew over
Sure, Ikigai seems like a great concept, but I don’t want to read about it from someone “adopting” it for a trend to sell self-improvement. I want to hear about it from people who’ve lived with this concept as an inherent part of their culture. [ apr 14 ]
🎊 Top 3 articles of the week
Celebrate with me!
Telling clients that their encounters with racism are personal perceptions that should be “reframed” imposes this belief that dealing with racism is the norm and there is no other way of living. It imposes the belief that the individual is at fault.
The idea of automating grunt work is to tune into which things you do in the exact same way every day that could be minimized using a quick trick.
Roasted sesame seeds: You usually can’t taste the sesame seeds, but it adds a nice visual. If you want to amplify the sesame flavour, sesame oil is the secret.
😭 Flop 3 articles of the week
Give these a little love, will ya?
Saying goodbye to this rectangular February and saying hello to March! Somehow, it smells like spring already, despite frost and snow still covering most of my backyard. Just last week, I had to dig my way out of my basement apartment. Could spring truly be around the corner?
Significant for scientists may mean p < 0.05, the probability that this difference we’ve found between two concepts was entirely random is less than 5%, meaning that it’s most likely not a random thing.
To my dearest dishwasher, I am grateful, so grateful for your nightly dedication to presenting me with glistening dishes, welcoming me into a bright new day each morning with a sparkling clean new plate.
🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!
challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!
New writers: Tatum Hamernik | Thalia Dunn | Nia Simone McLeod
Josie Elbiry | Keegan Roembke | Noorain Hassan, BMS | Humaira Iqbal | Zachary Burg | Bob Pepe | Will Hull | Jason | Courtenay S. Gray | Sahil Patel | Meenal Gupta | Amy Lee Kite | Evan Wildstein | Hilda Carroll | Chloe Hill | Paola Perez | Matt Ray | Wolfie Bain | Dena Ogden | Tasneem Kagalwalla | Yan Huang | Tree Langdon | Stuart Englander | Jennifer McDougall | Aaron Kemp | Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) | LS | Lori Welch Brown | Nicole Jiang | Crystalclearcandace | Em Unravelling | Jupiter Grant | Elle Beau ❇︎ | Suman Sandhu | Adam Deitsch | Mia Z. Edwards | David Majister | JF | Zach Neuman | Chris Mooney-Singh | Toya Qualls-Barnette | Karen Lappa Haas | Alan Henley | Michelle Bonfils | Zach Klebaner | Anna | Deepshikha Bhagat | Carlos Garbiras | Katrina Bos | Lisa Bolin | Sohaib Roomi | The Dozen | Malik Bellamy | Olivia Th | Shaista Malik | Emily Wilcox | Brajendra | Eva Rotolo | Bhavna Narula | Shannon Hugman | Ryan DeJonghe | Ryan DeJonghe | Dennett | Haider Jamal Abbasi | Swagat Choudhury | Vivian | Mark Tulin | Arslan Mirza | Amber Carlson | Dawn | Whatsinanaim | Amy Pierovich | Pooja Rane | Carolyn Riker | Tally | Shivangi Patel | Giulia | ScienceDuuude | Rachael Ann Sand | Divina Grey | Sri Devi Om | Sarah Paris | DISHA GARG | Jen Kleinknecht | janny’s heart | Penofgold | Blank Voice | Kele Mogotsi | Jessie London | Indubala Kachhawa | Radhika Ghose | Mil H. | Zeno Faber | Maziar Ghaderi | Julia Appa | Campbell Christensen | Allison Gaines | Lori Lamothe | Tima Loku | Kim McKinney | Baye Amina | SOULutionMan, aka Yohanan Gregorius | Tom Fenske | Johannes Mudi | Kasun Ranasinghe | Just a Slytherin hissing | Dr. Fatima Imam | Ntathu Allen | Somsubhra Banerjee | Veronica Georgieva | Life is Amazing with Books and Writers | Dandy Lioness | Bola Kwame | Haider Jamal Abbasi | Michael Ranjitsingh | Telling You Something | Krupesh Raikar | Muda El Masry | Rusty Alderson | Jennifer S. | Dr. Preeti Singh | Punch Drunk Cola | Melissa Speed | Ntathu Allen | Denise G | Carolyn Hastings | Tej | Vijini Mallawaarachchi | Amy Marley | Jac Gautreau | Caroline de Braganza | Roz Warren | Melissa Bee | Pretheesh Presannan | Erivaldo Ricardo | Daniel A. Teo | Anuradha Wickramarachchi | Niru | Priyanka Mane | Em Hoccane | Synthia Satkuna, MA Candidate | Alexandra Forsyth | R. Rangan PhD | Sruthi Korlakunta | Connie Song | Fathiyah Zb | Not quite Steve Fisher | Amna Asif | Jacobo the First | Aimée Gramblin | A Fresh Pot of Coffee | Rebecca Stevens A. | Imad | James G Brennan | Mary Keating | Jay Avery | h.a wadi | Pablo Pereyra | Isaac | Jenine Bsharah Baines | Rochelle Silva | Jade-Ceres Violet D. Munoz | Ruchi Thalwal | Clare Almand | Dana Sanford | Naomi Leilani Acosta | Dr. Jackie Greenwood | Fathiyah Zb | Amna Asif | Not quite Steve Fisher
Ps, if any of these links are outdated, please leave a note to let me know!
🧠🍜 Join us at The Brain is a Noodle! 🧠🍜
Last but probably most important
Hop on the jumbo thread!
Footnote
So in elementary school, recess was 10:10 am, but surely in high school that habit got stamped out of me? False.
We had five “periods” a day and 10:10 am nicely slid between two periods where I could sneak a snack in the hallways.
Flexible scheduling in undergrad and grad school meant I kept this 10:10 am snack time habit up. Will it ever stop? Stay tuned.
All I know is that my stomach is so conditioned to anticipate a snack at 10:10 am that solely by how hungry I am I can tell what time it is sometimes.