I was listening to the Freakonomics podcast recently and was introduced to the idea of a happiness bell curve.
According to the research, we hit the peak of our unhappiness (or the trough of our happiness) in our late 40’s. Which means if I’m not already in it, I’m cruising towards the pit of despair.
Each day, it seems like we are rewriting another segment of history by adding the silenced chapters – particularly from BIPOC and women. We’re experiencing an opportunity to flesh history out so that the stars aren’t just white guys. The beauty of it is, the stars were never just white guys.
Take Elizebeth Friedman, born in 1892. She became one of the pioneer code breakers at a time when the CIA and the FBI were just coming in to being.
Next up with my historical costuming adventure, a European bedgown, or Manteau de Lit. They are fantastically versatile, and much easier to make than the more fitted jackets from the 18th century, which required suiting up in all my underpinnings for fittings.
What do you know about the Korean War? How about what life was like on the Korean Peninsula before the Korean War?
If you want to get a glimpse into a little of the history, these books will give two very different perspectives.
Woke: as a political term of African-American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke“, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues. (source: Wikipedia).
Even if you know what “woke” means, you may still wonder if YOU are woke. And with current events, you may be feeling guilty and confused and wanting to be woke, and not sure how to make it happen.
Deep breath.
The beauty of this idea is the part where it is a “continuing awareness.”
