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I’m a 26-year-old product manager working in the startup sector while slowly progressing through a maths degree. I’m currently on 5 weeks leave from work to address burnout. My mother is an artist who creates work inspired by the ecology of the Australian southwest. You can find her at her professional Instagram @karenseamanfineart.

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PHYSICAL

• Dreammaker Electric Throw Blanket: I have been so cold recently, even though it’s heading into summer where I am. I bought two electric throw blankets in April this year and they are the fastest, most energy efficient and comfortable way to warm up when I suddenly get freezing. On high they do a great job at relaxing muscles too. I especially like their dark green colour too – it’s cosy and pretty and makes the whole experience that little bit more joyful.
• MelodySusie Nail Drill: I started learning to do gel nails earlier this year – partially to do my sister’s, partially to make a bit more income on the side. Gel nails without a drill are incredibly time consuming, and this drill has been good value for the price. It’s also come in handy for other things, like gently drilling holes in shells for my mermaid Halloween costume.
• My sourdough starter: I’m a celiac and have followed a gluten free diet for several years. I’ve always been scared of baking gluten free bread, even though I baked a lot before I went gluten free. A few weeks ago I made cinnamon rolls from scratch for a party and was surprised at how well they turned out and how easy they were. Since then, I’ve been learning about baking gluten free bread and have started a sourdough starter for the first time in my life. It’s still in the early stages of fermentation but it’s exciting! I understand all the jokes about people’s sourdough starters being their babies now.

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DIGITAL

• Sweepy app: I have executive function and fatigue issues. Housework is hard. Harder still when it comes to fairly distributing it among roommates. Sweepy takes all your household tasks and puts them into a rotation based on how frequently they need to be done. It then distributes them based on effort in a gamified schedule for all members of the house. Out of all the coping techniques to maintain my house that I’ve tried over the years, this is the one that takes housework from anxiety inducing to achievable and sometimes fun.
• Planetary hours calculator: I’ve been trying to reconnect with my spirituality and re-establish my routine recently. I’ve been interested in Western Esoteric traditions for several years. Planetary hours are an ancient system of dividing up the day and night into portions based on the times of sunrise and sunset and assigning the influence of one of the 7 traditional planets to each “hour” of time. This website makes calculating the time of each “hour” easy and I have a link to the shortcut on my phone’s homescreen.

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INVISIBLE

• Sunlight’s been pretty amazing recently as the seasons turn but the concept of shadow careers from Steven Pressfield’s Turning Pro takes the cake. It has come up time and time again in my life and in that of my close friends.”Sometimes, when we’re terrified of embracing our true calling, we’ll pursue a shadow calling instead. The shadow career is a metaphor for our real career. Its shape is similar, its contours feel tantalizingly the same. But a shadow career entails no real risk…If you’re dissatisfied with your current life, ask yourself what your current life is a metaphor for. That metaphor will point you toward your true calling.”

12/20/23