THE ROOT 9: 24.3

I know…you're probably rolling your eyes at me right now thinking this is a pretty banal question for a food for thought, but how many of us can actually explain the answer?

I think there's a magic in taking a moment to look beneath the surface and ask the deeper "why" questions, not only does it help us understand the world around us, but we can unlock a new sense of connection and perspective. It's a reminder that even the most common things hold a level of intricate beauty we might otherwise miss.

So, this weekend, I challenge you to pick one ordinary thing you see every day and ask yourself why it is the way it is. And, I think it’s time we connect! If you want to share what you learned, please fill out the survey below. I’d love to learn from you all and share with the rest of the readers. Feel free to submit your name or remain anonymous.

P.S., if you were curious, here is my interpretation of why the sky is blue from a couple minutes of googling: Rayleigh scattering is a scientific phenomena which describes how the gas molecules pass through our atmosphere. Sunlight enters our atmosphere through long red wavelengths and shorter blue wavelengths. The shorter blue gas molecules scatter in the air and are what our eyes see in the sky.

Question inspired from the one & only DByrd, thank ya sir.

Fine Tune The Vibe

Speaking of weddings…there are a lot of small tasks that come together in the final stretch of wedding planning, and while some are a bit tedious, I've always loved curating a vibe through music.

On the other hand, I love a good structure, and I've stuck with the same playlist system I created for organizing my music since 2016. I did write my college applications on this, haha.

I'll dive into this more another time, but to give you a preview, I assign a number to every genre I enjoy and sub-numbers within that to classify different vibes. There's no science to it, but a specific sub-number in a genre just makes me feel a certain way and delineates the playlists. For example, 1.2 is my feel-good alternative music (like Kings of Leon or Arctic Monkeys), while 1.5 is my more somber, pensive alternative music (like Beach House or Cigarettes After Sex). All of them are on my Spotify here if you are curious.

We recently started making a playlist for our wedding to give to our music crew, and I've had so much fun with it. I've been listening to it on repeat for three days, and it's no surprise that it's made me lean into excitement even more.

This got me thinking, who says I can't do that to get excited for a weekend trip? Or a dinner party? Even though I love my existing playlist structure, I'm getting excited to create more playlists curated for specific occasions. Maybe there's something coming up for you that making a playlist could help recalibrate the energy you're pouring into it.

Sunnies with a Splash of Color

We are slowly transitioning into fall fashion and while there are many items that make up a staple fall closet, one thing I realized I may need and am excited to invest in is a new pair of sunnies.

I typically lean into neutral colored sunnies that work with every outfit, but I’ve been eyeing sunglasses with a pop of color in the lens and wanted to share two I’m obsessing over. One is a pricier ‘reach’ purchase and the other has a more accessible price point for day to day wear. 🙂