WORD OF THE YEAR, TIKTOK + MANAGING THE VOICES AND MORE
January 28 2023
Guess what?I’m moving things around a little with the Mettā View. Substack being substantially different from the previous email provider I’d used, I’ve chosen to split the newsletter into two, making Looking Forward (like the essay I shared yesterday) and the Weekly Digest (as announced above) stand-alone sister publications. I know that getting more emails is generally not something one seeks, but hopefully, keeping the Weekly Digest brimming with articles of interest and mindful leadership resources, it’ll feel just right to you too.
If you’re new to this newsletter, The Weekly Digest is composed of two parts, Looking Out, where I highlight pieces on the world of fashion, design, leadership, culture, social media and technology.
Looking In, on the other hand, offers resources, recommendations and other valuable insights for conscious work, mindful communication and generally things that can help nurture us, body and mind, whether we need tips around work or personal matters.
The Digest was what started my journey to writing a newsletter. Having turned from corporate executive to freelance consultant, I carved out time to read more, which had been impossible for a long time. With that, I developed this desire to share the best of what I’d read with friends and clients, whether podcasts, articles, or other resources.
At first, I emailed and sent WhatsApp messages to my people one by one. That felt thoughtful but also a little reductive: what if they were also interested in other things than what was immediately relevant to them?
By then, I also had a brand new website (now not so new but still fabulous), so it seemed only right to jump on the newsletter bandwagon.
Thanks for reading The Mettā View! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
I know we are all busy, and we don’t have time to read everything from everyone, and that’s okay! It’s the same for me as it is for everyone else. But I hope that occasionally, at least, you’ll feel inspired or tickled by this Digest’s very personal curation.
And now off we go with this week’s picks!
Much love,
LOOKING OUT
Principles are only principles if they cost you something.
Alan Jope, CEO, Unilever
WORD OF THE YEAR
My word of the year is ‘vibrancy’. It just popped up and felt right. I can see how it’s meaningful. ‘Resonant’ is one way to think of it. I’m doing my best to do work that echoes with my clients, readers, and listeners. And as I’m hoping to become a mother later this year, pulsating with life also feels significant.
I invite you to choose your word of the year, and tell me whether it sticks.
TROPHY FAUX-ANIMAL HEADS CREATE DRAMA ON THE PARIS COUTURE RUNWAY
This week in the fashion jungle, the big news was the misplaced furore over Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry’s overly realistic animal heads adorning his designs. As reported in WWD and the Wall Street Journal, the designer explained that the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf, worn by top models both on and off the runway, were a physical representation of Dante’s allegory of lust, pride and avarice. He added:
“I didn’t want it to be literal at all: we’re not going into the nine circles of hell and meeting Satan at the end. That’s not the point,” Roseberry shared. “But the point was really Dante himself and this story about trial, tribulation, doubt, and that you have to experience all of that in order to get to paradise.”
While social media lit up to attack the brand, PETA however, having read the brand’s social media captions and press release, approved, finding the work ‘fabulously innovative.’ So that’s good!
Sadly, this almost overlooked the fabulousness of Doja Cat’s entrance to the show.
Paris Couture Fashion Week is meant to be dreamy, a place where art meets craftsmanship meets clothes (sometimes it can be hard to imagine the garments worn). It never fails to capture my mind nonetheless, like Caset Cadwallader did for Mugler, putting on an interactive fashion film, and Viktor & Rolf’s rotating ballgowns (read about them on Dezeen).
FROM FASHION STRESS TO COUNTRY BLISS
Meanwhile, there are more than a few fashion execs who’ve had enough of the stress and ran to the countryside to build a new life for themselves, as the Times reported last weekend. I was thrilled to recognise a previous PR manager and my first clients at AVM Consulting, the talented Jeremy and Cath Brown of Feldspar Studio. Seeing them thrive in their respective corners of the British and Welsh countryside is inspiring to read. Discover here.
WHAT’S WITH TIKTOK
Two stories from Digiday this week showcase the fascinating ways in which some invest in TikTok publishing while others plan to ban the platform altogether.
Looking In
MANAGING THE VOICES
Have you ever come across IFS, which stands for Internal Family Systems?
And/or have you ever noticed that there might be tension between different parts of you: the do-gooder, the mom/dad/daughter, the friend, the lazy one, the hyper-efficient, you get the gist, right?
I’ve been writing (a piece yet unpublished) about my relationship with my inner roommate, that voice in my head that can be awfully difficult, and how practicing mindfulness and loving-kindness was not for my benefit alone, but was basically to appease said inner roommate. Well, going a good step further, IFS, the brainchild of Dr Richard Schwartz, explains that there is more than one other voice in our heads, and we can learn to work with them. He has books, training and much more which you can discover here, but you can also get some tips as to how to start to identify and work with your ‘parts’ in this great article from Psyche.
Highly recommended. Read more here.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PANIC
A personal account of how HBR editor Vasundhara Sawhney faced an unexpected panic attack is the starting point of this piece about what to do when one has a panic attack.
Dr Sridevi Kalindini C.B.E., founder of startup Klip Global, answers the editor’s questions surrounding what to do when suffering from panic disorder, or single panic attacks. Given that this will affect up to 35% of people over the course of their lifetime, we could all do with more knowledge on the subject. Read more at HBR.com
GET YOUR SLEEP ON
I’m super excited to listen to this interview with Tim Ferriss and sleep master Matthew Walker, whose book ‘Why we sleep’ is at the top of my list. I’m already convinced but I’m curious to know more nonetheless. Expect me to be badgering you any day now about how much sleep you get. Listen to it here.
