🧭 Cultural Compass #7

A round-up of culture influencing my navigation of life.

Welcome back to the ‘Cultural Compass’ series of The Navigation, where each month I’ll be sharing a round-up of recently consumed culture (usually books, podcasts, articles; sometimes TV, and other miscellaneous items) that’s in some way had an impact on my thinking around navigating life.

Maybe something that’s caused me to reflect on an aspect of my life I want to change, something I want to strive for, a daily routine ‘hack’, or something that I just feel compelled to share, relating to the themes I’m thinking and writing about.

📖Meeting and Reading

First up this week, a shout out to

Emma Gannon

and Books that Matter for hosting a lovely event in collaboration with LSE and The Gilded Acorn bookshop for Emma's latest book, The Success Myth. I was lucky enough to have bagged a proof copy earlier this year to review for

Lazy Women

, which you can read here, and so it was such a pleasure to meet Emma in person.

The funny, open and interesting discussion between Emma and Books that Matter founder, Molly Masters, preceded a Q&A from the intimate audience, which really made me feel like I'd found my people. Fellow book-lovers pondering the meaning of success hailed from a range of countries, bringing different life experiences, and indeed number of candles they'd blown out on a birthday cake. Yet we all sat there grappling with the same questions. Some having figured out more than others. Some going through, or emerging from, burnout. Some trying to sustain a new way of approaching success since experiencing a light bulb moment, leaning on Emma's book for support.

Emma and Molly chat writing, reading, success and IRL hang-outs.

Meeting and chatting to fellow Substackers

Francesca Specter

and

Rebecca Hanley

was also a delight, and a reminder of the importance, and joy, of connecting IRL. Not only because we can so easily get caught up in concentrating on online connections, but also because getting out of our heads, away from our desks, and into a new environment with new faces and engaging conversation is a fantastic way to nudge our conscious to focus on what we want, what we care about, where we want to direct our energy.

For me, this meeting of like-minded (mainly) women provided a new encouragement to focus on writing, and a renewed sense of the value in doing so. Wise words from Rebecca in particular, which she shared in part here via

Curiouser and Curiouser

, really struck me as a prompt to utilise The Success Myth as a way to help embed this. The way Molly spoke about another of Emma’s books, The Multi-Hyphen Method, during the interview also made me want to dig that out for read. I mean, while I’m at it, another flick through Sabotage probably wouldn't go amiss either.

Writing might not be something that interests you. Perhaps neither are books. The delectable quaintness of The Gilded Acorn might do nothing to warm your insides. But what does? What gets your brain excited, makes you want to connect with like-minded people, gets you out of bed in the morning or keeps you up at night (I don't mean the existential crises that seep in on a Sunday eve... or do I? What are they trying to tell you?)?

What opportunities are there to follow up on these impulses, and what might you be able to get out of doing so?

The (adorable) Gilded Acorn.

On account of a hectic work schedule and needing to pack for a weekend away I almost didn't make it to this event, but I can't tell you how glad I am to have made it a priority. If you take anything from my ramblings on this delightful bookish event, let it be a bit of encouragement to keep an eye out for something that might offer a breath of fresh air into your rat race routine.

💗 Barbiemania

I've really toyed about sharing my thoughts on this one, partly because they aren't necessarily fully formed (will they ever be?) and also because it's a bit bloody exhausting having to think critically about the portrayal of women all the time. But I've seen it, read a lot about it, chatted a lot about it, and reflected somewhat on my childhood enjoyment of Barbies (and their contemporaries, Sindy and Bratz). I've dug out a bright pink lipstick, and bemoaned my cellulite in a particularly unflatteringly lit bathroom mirror. And so, oddly, annoyingly, this movie is influencing my navigation of life at the moment.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but you will find them in these links. My one-word description of the movie would be bizarre. I genuinely didn't know what else to say when my partner asked what I thought of Barbie when I first got home from the cinema, having seen it with a friend (she will be reading – hi!) who I think left with a similar sentiment.

My stand-out moment was the surely iconic monologue by America Ferrera. I want to learn all the words and repeat it to myself, and others, at any given opportunity. Although, genius as it was, I'm not sure it was compelling enough to save the movie, and surrounding furore, from the contradictory messaging, which I found interestingly explored by

Jessica DeFino

via

The Unpublishable

here.

On the slip side, is it so terrible to just accept that Barbie is a bit of fun, and can actually bring wider, often unexpected opportunities for connection? Rightly or wrongly (who's to say?) I found journalist Eliva Limón’s reflection on playing with, and collecting, Barbies as a first-generation immigrant pretty touching. I'm not alone in feeling conflicted, as demonstrated in a collection of reflections by

Lazy Women

- and maybe that's fine. Maybe it’s not black and white. I mean, obviously; its pink.

I know having cellulite (or not) doesn't define my worth as a woman. I know wearing a pair of sparkly heels doesn't take away from my intellect. And I know that a world where only Barbies or only Kens are on top isn't going to end well for anyone - it's about listening to and respecting each other (but probably still amplifying Ferrera's speech while we're at it). But I also know that body image pressures and beauty standard norms are things I've had to actively work at feeling less compulsion to adhere to; pressures and norms that have undoubtedly been perpetuated by 'stereotypical Barbie'-esque imagery.

The real winner of Barbiemania is, of course, capitalism. Mattel have played a good game. But beyond the branded perfume, popcorn and plumping creams, perhaps the most helpful thing to focus on is the story of Barbie's founding; that intention, however we may judge it now, of a mother, to create a world of toys for her daughter which taught that child she could grow up to be, to do, anything she wanted.

🎧 Unexpected Reminders

As I pottered around my flat one evening this week, flitting between life admin, laundry and lingering work emails, I listened to an episode of

Francesca Specter

's Alonement podcast, with Dr Nicole Lepera. She is typically full of insightful takes of the therapy variety (I remember being on a lockdown walk, enraptured by Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail episode with her) and this conversation was no exception - covering everything from alone time in childhood, to one’s body being in a state of threat, and finding time alone in relationships.

But what really struck me was a part of the conversation, just over halfway through, where Dr Lepera talked about integrating what we learn - whether through books, podcasts, therapy, or other conversations. She highlighted how it can be so easy to get caught in the addictive trap of self-help, moving from one resource to the next without taking enough time to digest what has been learnt, or understood.

Though in this context the focus was self-help, I think the notion can apply to a variety of topics, and it was a stark reminder for me that I have this intention to spend more time on integration, I've even written about it (based on some inspiration from

Taylor Elyse Morrison

), but it’s so easy to forget! It takes minimal effort to just find something to read, listen to, watch, whether it be related to professional development, building a new skill, delving into a hobby - or indeed self-help. But we must be intentional about embedding what we're absorbing in order to really gain all the benefits of this seemingly endless quest for content.

It feels like it shouldn't be this hard, but I find it annoyingly so. Something for me to continue working on, as part of this ongoing navigation of life. Anyone with me?

PS…

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