Harry's House (of representatives) 🏡
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Morning angels!!! I'm trying to get this newsy out super quickly today because I've gotta go and record the first episode of The Shit Show with Squish in a hot minute (and we're talking all about Twitter which is exciting!!) Then I'm off to have my regular phoenixing session with Bel before our work day ✨really✨ begins (no doubt the topic of conversation will be about her chime today - read on for that!) All of this is to say... sorry for the short intro and I hope u go and slay the day besties xxx
Bel Chimes In: On how to channel your bleakness
The US elected its first Gen Z to the House... and he's a 1D stan 🤘
The Shit Show bonus ep (all of the secrets from Instagram's creator week 👀)
A STATEMENT I NEED TO MAKE
The US elected its first Gen Z to the House... and he's a 1D stan 🤘
You may have been following a little thing that was going on yesterday called the ✨midterms✨ and if you weren't... that's fine! That's why I'm here! A lil update: Republicans are likely to take control of the House of Representatives, while the fight for the Senate is still 'on a knife edge' (more on this tomorrow when we've got all the results.) But my fave story to come out of yesterday's voting was about Maxwell Frost.
Maxwell is 25 (born in 1997 just like me!!), and is projected to win in Florida's 10th Congressional District making him the first Gen Z to be elected to serve in the US Congress!! His campaign focused on "the issues Democrats believe appeal to young voters - gun violence, climate change, abortion rights and expanded healthcare," and upon winning, it was ✨very importantly✨ discovered that he was a One Direction stan - green flag!!
This whole ✨Gen Z finally being allowed to be in the big kid's room✨ thing is going to be SO interesting to watch as we all grow up - seeing people who have been incredibly online their entire lives and knowing their whole digital footprint (the good and the bad sides of it) is going to give us headlines like this every other week I reckon!! Can't wait to see Harry Styles stans and Swifties running the world soon.
Other highlights from yesterday (via the BBC):
Republican candidate Katie Britt, 40, will be elected as Alabama's first woman to serve in the US Senate, according to projections from the BBC'S US partner CBS News.
Democrat Wes Moore, 44, has also made history as Maryland's first black governor. He is only the third black governor elected in the nation's 246-year history, alongside Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Douglas Wilder of Virginia.
Democrat Maura Healey, 51, the projected winner of Massachusetts's governor race, is the first lesbian to be elected governor.
Democrat James Roesener, 26, is projected to become the first openly transgender man to be to elected to any state legislature in US history.
Bel Chimes In: On how to channel your bleakness
This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. You should check out more of her beautiful words here.
Hi besties! Since we last spoke, Luce and Rubes are back, which means our regular coffee phoenixing dates have resumed, and the world has a little more SHIMMER back in it (thank God). I’ve also taken up knitting, which I know sounds like an extremely cottagecore hobby (Bring back hobbies - another Chime hmmm…), BUT I think I started feeling like if the world was truly ending, I wanted more than my quill to be able to offer humanity (Lol, thinking about this further what was I thinking — I would be able to knit jumpers for the surviving population?! It’s good to dream). ANYWAY. Are you feeling bleak atm? SO many of my convos with friends are about fighting mid-20s crises, battling a sense of purposelessness, and wondering how to think about the future when people are saying things like, ‘we’re on the highway to hell with the foot on the accelerator' in regards to climate change. My friends and I have also affectionately been calling this the ‘Age of Austerity’ because living is so PAINFULLY EXPENSIVE atm that we’re not really going out and instead hanging out at each others’ houses in hoodies drinking plunger coffee, and eating chips for dinner. Honestly? When I explain it like that I feel fucking lucky to be alive and v v grateful for the small things. But still.
I’m trying super hard for these Chimes not to read like motivational stretch canvases or neon signs like DANCE LIKE NO ONE’S WATCHING, but there are small things I’ve found that help the malaise or ways to think about it. Two freelancer friends and I met up last week (a ritual we call ‘Freelancer Therapy’, which I love v much and often ends up a lot like that scene in Notting Hill when everyone’s fighting for the last brownie). These were our conclusions:
Know your intangible magic. A life’s work, I know. But you have it, and make sure you keep reminding yourself of what you bring to this planet. If you forget, often it's your friends who know this the most, and they will remind you.
Get out of your house to get out of your head.
Stay in your house and rest.
Have some kind of meditative practice. I like really long walks (I know this isn’t possible for everyone - some of my friends who can’t walk game or get massages or nap).
Buy nothing you don’t need for a while.
Do something that makes you feel free.
Do nothing, don't think about what everyone else is doing and don’t feel bad about it.
Be reassured that everyone is exactly like you: an imperfect human floating around in the atmosphere, just trying to make it work.
Lastly, my friend Simon text me this yesterday, which I loved: 'I just want to be a grain of salt this summer'. So often, we make things complex because simplicity can feel empty, but hmmm... there's something cute in that.
Got any other tips? Send em to me, and we’ll make a list and get through any bleakness together.
Love your presence in my life! Thanks for every inch of it xxx
A bonus ep of The Shit Show for ya!
We Attended Instagrams Creator Week: Here's What Went Down — open.spotify.com
In this bonus ep of The Shit Show, I give you an incredibly honest peek behind the curtain of a buzzy event in Bali with APACs biggest creators - the highs, the lows & and even an interview with Ivana Kirkbride, a META exec who I sat down with to ask all my burning questions to.
Throughout the interview, I do my BEST to ask all the questions on my mind, but as you'll hear, I maybe didn't always get the most straightforward answers... anyway, YOU SHOULD GO AND LISTEN!!
Less of a poll, more of a statement
The FLOOR is inside, the GROUND is outside. If leaves are falling off trees outside, they're landing on the GROUND not the FLOOR! (The ground can actually be inside too sometimes tho.) That's all.
We Attended Instagrams Creator Week: Here's What Went Down (The Shit Show)
Phoebe Bridgers, Paul Mescal, & Selena Gomez's New Doco (Culture Vulture)
Meta cuts 11,000 jobs as it sinks more money into the metaverse (Reuters)
Watch My Policeman here!! (Our partnership with Prime Video)SYSCA playlists (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)