No, this is not a documentary about searching for coffee. Rather, this is one of the most approachable explanations of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” you’ll ever find. Watch this as an alternative to all the controversy going on in the political realm right now. Go get some popcorn! You can watch the entire film at no cost here:

Don’t wait, act: You Will Regret These Choices in 10 Years

From ‘Love, Medicine and Miracles’ by Bernie Siegel

This year we’ve seen part or all of 5 versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’. Why? Because 2020. My favorite version is the audiobook read by Sir Patrick Stewart although MK and I both agree the film version he stars in sucks because of the Ghost of Christmas Future. I love the audiobook because the original language is so far and away better than any film version could ever portray. You have a different opinion? Please share it in the comments. Here are the last two paragraphs of the book…

“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him; but he let them laugh, and little heeded them, for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle ever afterward; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol (Christmas Books series Book 1) (p. 72). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.

Wishing you the best holidays you’re able to salvage from 2020…

By identifying which of these is consuming your minutes and hours, you can start carving out more happy and meaningful moments for yourself, says time and happiness researcher Ashley Whillans: Which of these 6 time traps is eating up all your time?

Modern Life Lessons from History’s Greatest Sculptor: The Angel in the Marble

People looking for holiday gift ideas have a resource: the NPR Book Concierge. The interactive book finder has hundreds of titles selected by NPR critics and staff: NPR’s Book Concierge Is Back For Another Year Of Reading Recommendations

Here’s what we gain from growing up with difficult mothers, and how I healed and moved on from my childhood: The Unexpected Impact of Growing Up with a Difficult Mother – Tiny Buddha