monthly musings vol. 12
leap year magic, we don't need math, one year on substack, and doing less
Did you know it’s a magic day? It’s February 29th - It’s a hidden day, wedged in between months once every four years. That makes 2024 a magic year, too. 366 days instead of the usual 365. So take it as a gift, a chance to do something a little out of the ordinary. Ladies, you could follow the Irish tradition and propose to your boyfriend today. And kids, you can take this opportunity to really flip things around, and give gifts to your parents!
The reason for leap years is much too technical for me to understand. NASA tells me it has to do with the Earth’s orbit of the sun, but I’ll just stick to the poetry of it all. I always understood the symbolism so much better than the numbers.
Speaking of which, The Washington Post finally says out loud what we all knew to be true when we were stuck in Algebra 1: Math is pretty useless. The old, when am I ever going to use this? question has some merit:
“Only 22 percent of the nation’s workers use any math more advanced than fractions, and they typically occupy technical or skilled positions. That means more than three-fourths of the population spends painful years in school futzing with numbers when they could be learning something more useful.”
I think of math as a very technical skill - something that you might need for a very specific job or vocation, but probably unnecessary for most people. Language, literature, reading, on the other hand, I would argue is a life experience. Everyone needs stories. It is our life blood, the way we understand our own lives, how we develop empathy, comprehend history, and grapple with what it means to be a human being.
Think of people you know - even if they’re not a ‘creative type’ - I bet no matter what their career is, they watch shows or read books or listen to podcasts. They are engaged in stories. Is math inherent to humanity? Eh. Are stories? I say, without a doubt, yes. All the more reason to be alarmed by the the ongoing cuts to the liberal arts in colleges and schools across the country.
I’m with Schumacher here:
“What do I miss, as a human being, if I have never heard of the Second Law of Thermodynamics? The answer is: Nothing. And what do I miss by not knowing Shakespeare? Unless I get my understanding from another source, I simply miss my life. Shall we tell our children that one thing is as good as another-- here a bit of knowledge of physics, and there a bit of knowledge of literature? […]
Science cannot produce ideas by which we could live.”
― E.F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered
So there’s my little rant for the day.
Meanwhile the world spins on, in whatever Leap Year way that means. There are sunnier and warmer days and even winter-loving me is delighted to spend mornings feeling the sunshine, chasing a ruddy faced toddler, watching a baby discover leaves and mud and birds, outside amidst the peace of growing things.
nearly one year on substack
I was reminded that I published my first substack post on March 5, 2023. I had a newly baptized seven week old and was exhausted and delighted by life. I absolutely adore the newborn stage,1 and that’s saying something, because with both my kids we had nursing struggles in the beginning and I was pumping every two hours all day and night in addition to holding the baby koala-like at all hours. So yes, it was exhausting, of course.
But the magic of meeting someone so new, this beloved stranger from your own body who you suddenly love quite absurdly and beautifully more than anything on earth, is, to put it lightly, the miracle of all miracles. It is the apex of life and I feel so much gratitude for having experienced it. I thrive on the adrenaline and the post-birth hormonal highs. Holding a new baby, having gone through the trials and tribulations of birth, I have never felt more in my body, in a sort of uniquely feminine and strong way.
When the day-to-day arrives, well that is the harder thing. I realize I tend to seek out crisis-mode, chances to be gritty and determined and done-in. It’s much harder for me to sit and be and enjoy the stillness of steady growth. But that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m turning off my phone and leaving it charging in the evenings and spending hours immersed in random novels I find at the library.2 I'm saying ‘no’ to some opportunities so that I'm not spread too thin. I'm sitting with my kids in the park and naming bird calls and playing tag.
I’m also trying to write much less on substack. Doesn’t that sound a little crazy? To celebrate a year on substack by saying I’d like to do a little less on substack. As I have slowly allowed myself the freedom to read or listen to music or go to the gym, move my body, breathe, be - I realized this substack has often been a form of productivity-addiction for me. I am proud of all that I have written and the growth I’ve experienced.3 I am actually able to make a not insignificant contribution to our monthly budget by writing what I love and creating this community and that is no small thing. I want to continue with all those things, but I do think that in order to write with the sort of clarity I want, I need to be writing less. Sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
Besides if you’re like me, you are oversubscribed and having trouble reading all the things in your inbox as it is.
As I reread my first post - I note this line -
“I hope to distill some of the noise for you, not add to it.”
I want to live more by that idea.
So enough from me. Here’s this month's links - perhaps with the idea of ‘less’ save them for later if you like, but hopefully this can give you some interesting things to mull over:
NYT is catching up on the conversations that have been going on all year here on Substack - A practical guide to quitting your smart phone.
A really beautiful exploration on the faith of Vincent Van Gogh, from
“I have always found Wheatfield with Crows, at once so dark and yet so hopeful, as a veiled depiction of the cross; of Christ crucified, and not Christ risen—hence the darkness of the sky and the murder of crows. The wheat, clearly, is being swept up in a strong wind, i.e. a moment of tremendous significance. The three paths suggest a cross or the Trinity; and the way the middle path peters out into a distant point under the light of the moon (or cloud?) suggests an ultimate peace.”
One village in France banned smartphones in public.
“I want to preserve public spaces from the smartphone invasion,” said Paul-Petit, the mayor. “It’s not about banning all phones, it’s about proposing that people abstain from getting out their smartphones to scroll social media, play a game or watch videos in public places, which we want to preserve for social life.”
A disturbing read from
on how AI is stealing his readers.What happens when you get kids off their screens? How do you fill the void? Good advice here from
All about Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia adaptation. Everyone knows I love Greta Gerwig, and even though I sometimes miss her indie-beginnings (Frances Ha, Lady Bird, and the like) and worry about her move into Mega-Films (I think she thrives best in the small personal details), I am optimistic - I trust her!
Another reminder - for myself as much as anyone - against over-parenting from
. This article is about risky physical play but I do also think, per a conversation my husband and I had recently, there can be a knee-jerk fear-based reaction against the world we live in. Not for my kids! But there is lots of beauty to be found everywhere, and while it’s important to find your own family’s boundaries and individual culture, I personally want my kids to encounter lots of worldviews and types of people, to even be challenged in their own assumptions. Yes, even when that involves a certain amount of ‘risk.’
That’s all of got, folks. I’ve been having really interesting conversations on the podcast, including with my friend
on cooking, passion projects, and authenticity, and with the Finnish author Anu Partanen about independence, freedom, and what policies actually work in other countries that help families thrive. Make sure you look up ‘Born of Wonder’ on whatever podcasting app you use (or find them here on the Substack feed).I do also just want to remind you that I am co-leading a pilgrimage to Ireland with
in October and this is the month to sign up. It’s March, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. I know it can take a lot of planning, monetarily, logistically, but I think this is going to be an incredible trip, with memories and insights and friendships that will hopefully see you through many, many years to come. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. If you want to sign up, you just put your deposit down here and Select will help you arrange all the details.All good, true, beautiful things.
x Katie
Hi, I’m Katie, a writer and podcaster and I believe that literature, art, beauty, theology, and wonder are worth our time and attention. This essay was free for you to read, but took time and research to write - consider upgrading to a paid subscription to support the work I do.
Visit www.bornofwonder.com and find Born of Wonder the podcast on podbean, iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you download your podcasts.
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I should clarify I did not love the newborn phase with my first - I was too overwhelmed and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Second babies can be such a healing gift in this way.
Just finished The Secret Book of Flora Lea and it was delightful.
I started with a little over 300 exported subscribers from my old blog and end this year with about 1,000 more, with about 6% of those being paid subscribers.
I do enjoy your published pieces! Especially anything to do with horses. I do wish I had one but am not in a place where I could take proper care of it. Oh well.
I do appreciate the tongue in cheek comments on math since I have long held the opinion that I would never actually need it. And then I started homeschooling and discovered math is actually imbedded in the arts. Really, they go hand in hand.
I think our current culture swings hard one way or the other pushing parts to the determinant of the whole.
You know, I have two boys who are math-obsessed and science-obsessed (I'm a few years ahead of you--my oldest is in college!), and one who is better at it than he thinks but hates it. Where math and science are concerned, I have to admit to some mixed feelings. I am a writer and a liturgical composer and an all-around creative, so I'm with you altogether on the need for those things. But the anti-intellectualism, anti-factualism, of the last few years, the resistance to science when it inconveniences a person (i.e. climate change/Covid), etc. makes me think we really need that well-balanced world view, even if we don't "use" it directly. Just having that context, to know what a large world and universe really is out there, is important, I think.