Little Things To Inspire You This Week, Plus A 1 Day Writing & Yoga Retreat!

The Sunday Roundup #13: Welcome to Sagittarius and Christmas season. Let's slow down before the year ends.

Little Things is a newsletter about creativity & wellbeing from Ali Vingiano. Subscribe to join a community of other creatives and receive little things to inspire you, big things to meditate on, news & discounts on retreats, and writing & career guidance.

Happy Sunday night, and welcome to Sagittarius and Holiday season! It’s the most joyful and chaotic time of year.

December is for spontaneity, self-love, optimism, friendship, and warmth. Sooth yourself with hot teas and turtleneck sweaters and baths and soups.¹ Lean into what feels good for the rest of the year. Give your soul a hug.

Before we get into the roundup, a quick announcement!

I am so excited to share that I am hosting a 1 day Writing & Yoga retreat. Zoom in from your couch, and start 2023 inspired.

The focus is on brainstorming and beginning new projects. The retreat will be held online Saturday January 7, 2023, from 9:30-3:30pm PST/12:30-6:30 EST. It’s only $159 for the whole day.²

The full schedule, including details on the two writing workshops, can be found on the Eventbrite page. There are limited spots to ensure personalized feedback.

Give yourself the gift of relaxing your nervous system, centering yourself, activating your creativity, and developing ideas you’re excited to write.

• Glass Onion is energetic, delightful, and absolutely worth a watch on Netflix when it comes out in December.

• Aftersun is stunning. It’s an intimate, quiet film that’s all character and emotion and beautiful imagery, without a need for plot. I highly recommend seeing it in theaters as opposed to at home. It’s IndieWire’s Best Film of 2022. I HIGHLY disagree with some of these placements… Sure, Top Gun: Maverick was a blast, but it is not better than Triangle of Sadness… BY 18 SPOTS. Nevertheless, it’s a fun list and Aftersun deserves a spot on top of it.

Aftersun

• Loneliness is one of the most universal experiences. Here’s what a few different people are doing to cope with their own, via BuzzFeed.

• It can be so difficult to actually live by, and prioritize, our values — especially in our work obsessed culture. Here’s some advice on how to do just that, via The Atlantic

• If you have no idea what it means to regulate your emotions, but hear it all the time, this article might be helpful, via Self

• Feeling stuck in your career? The answer is always, simply: Make your own stuff. It can be a frustrating message to hear, but it's also wildly liberating.

• I just finished The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, a novel that explores a future in which memories can be externalized and reviewed in a collective consciousness. Egan’s writing is masterful, but not for everybody — she interweaves short stories to tell a larger one. It’s one of the NYT’s favorite books of 2022, and you might feel the same way. I… will report back when I finish the rest of my year’s TBR.

My Saturday morning with Olive and Egan.

ali griffin vingiano @alivingiano

my friend broke a heel bone & it was so serious she needed surgery. the x-ray technician said he hadn't seen it break in 17 years. when i asked if it was the most pain she'd every experienced, she said "my IUD was worse," - and that, in a nutshell, is being a woman

To fully embrace Sagittarius season, today’s challenge is to follow your gut. Do what feels right. When you can’t, stop, slow down your breath, and return to your body. Then, you can start listening.

Do you freeze up around that one person? That’s your body communicating to you. Is the holiday stress causing your immune system to shut down? Stay in and rest. Do you feel like you’re going to explode if you spend anymore time with your family? That is your body desperately asking for help relaxing its nervous system.

This week, let the wisdom of your body guide you. Allow in some fluidity. Follow your intuition.

Five Ways To Get Better At Trusting Your Gut, via Fast Company

• Where is there room for more flexibility in your life?

Meet me in the comments to discuss or use this as a journaling prompt for the week.

Have a wonderful week, and hope to see some of your beautiful faces on Zoom in January!

As always, the typos in this post are intentional.

1. My warm winter meal this week was a yellow curry which is easy to make, absolutely delicious, and lasts for days. My recipe changes were as follows: I made it vegetarian instead of with chicken, used turmeric, cumin, salt & pepper (to taste) instead of curry powder, added fish sauce, and used 1 cup of chicken broth instead of 1/4th.

2. If you want to avoid the Eventbrite registration fees, you can reach out directly to pay via Zelle or Venmo. Any FYI, my last workshop was $95 and only 2.5 hours, so this is a very good deal!