Self-awareness is not the same thing as peace

This weekend I got to spend an unusual amount of time in the company of people I love, and the notion of showing up came up over and over again.

I am trying to show up, for those people and for myself. And part of how I ensure (how I derive, how I preserve) the energy to do that is high stakes but low stakes television shows.

During the heights of the mid-2000s financial crisis I would, after an endless day of covering bank failures and subprime loans and derivative horrorshows, binge-watch America’s Next Top Model. There was, and still is, something reliably thrilling about the exclamation “Tyra Mail!!!”

These days that roster of HSBLS shows includes: