Cool Things I Learned This Week

Growing up, the library was one of my happy places. There was so much to learn and explore, it felt like a candy store for a hungry mind.

As an adult, I’m grateful to have kept a lot of that childlike curiosity. Almost every day, there’s something new I want research and learn about. I thought I’d share some of these things with you going forward.

Here are two cool things I learned this week:

Organic Glitter 

When I bought a paper X-Mas calendar earlier this week, I was intrigued by the “organic glitter” sticker on it. What exactly was organic glitter?!?

As it turns out, in 2023 the EU banned microplastics. The ban includes loose plastic glitter, which is now being phased out. Humans can be very ingenuous - especially when it comes to things that matter to us. Our love of sparkles seems to fall into that category. In lieu of the crappy plastic option, there now is biodegradable glitter, made from plant fibres like eucalyptus cellulose.

How cool is it, that we can turn trees to glitter? It’s a small positive thing I was really excited to learn about - especially considering how many things seem to be going sideways at the moment. Less garbage in the environment, while we still get to have fun with all things that glitter is a spark(le) of optimism.

How Crappy Thinking Leads to Crappy Feelings - Rejection Edition

Then, I stumbled upon the book “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy” by David Burns, MD. I’m always keen to learn more about the mind, our psyche, and personal development, so this one was particularly cool. See also my email from earlier this week on that matter. The book comes with a list of 10 so-called cognitive distortions I found particularly enlightening.

These cognitive distortions are the BS we tell ourselves about how and why we feel the way we feel. Most of the time, they make us feel more crappy than is necessary. It was eye-opening, especially when you start observing your own thinking.

Here’s an example: No. 2 Overgeneralization.

With this cognitive distortion, you conclude that one thing that happened to you once will happen to you over and over again. The pain of rejection comes almost entirely from overgeneralization as per David Burns. Somebody rejected you once, so for sure this is what your life will be like from now on.

For example, this could be thinking that because somebody turned you down once, they’ll turn you down always. You then continue with your less than helpful mental story and overgeneralize that since all men or women have 100% identical tastes, you will be turned down forever.

And voilà, you feel terrible about yourself. Better to avoid that.

The other 9 cognitive distortions are equally interesting. Burns argues - rooted in Cognitive Behavior Therapy - that much of depression comes from the suboptimal stories we tell ourselves about our emotions rather than the emotions themselves. Something to ponder…

Have a lovely weekend,

Johanna