Are You the Person You Want to Be?

If not, what's holding you back?

Thanks for reading Almost Sated, a newsletter about the messy process of detoxing from diets and diet culture and the personal growth that comes from it. If you like what you’re reading, please consider subscribing and sharing! It’s free to join, and subscribing ensures you never miss a post. On Mondays, I round up the most interesting reads and listens from the last week.

My headline’s question comes from

Janice Walton

of Aging Well News. Since I discovered her work here on Substack, I’ve found Walton to be an inspiration and model for how I want to live. She is bravely baring her soul through her Substack, where she writes about rediscovering herself and living her best life after the death of her husband during the pandemic.

What I find remarkable about Walton is her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone, challenge her own long-held assumptions and perceived short-comings, and keep doing better. 

Every day we are at a crossroads regarding who we want to be, how we want to spend our time and live our lives. Do I want to eat a piece of chocolate cake, or do I want to make a healthier food choice? Do I want to go downhill until death, or do I want to age well? —Janice Walton

I think about the question she poses—are you the person you want to be?—a lot actually, more so in the last few years as I have made major shifts in my life. I’ve been much more deliberate with my choices—how I spend my time, who I spend my time with, how I want to show up, what I value most. Those choices aren't always easy—let's face it, they aren't easy most of the time—but they have brought me more in line with my values. 

I want to live intentionally, purposefully and authentically. I want to model what I believe in. I want to live my best life.

Walton outlines a few key areas of focus in her quest to live hers, including one I particularly relate to, which is being willing to take risks. I wrote last week about how scary it is to step outside of our comfort zones, but also why it’s so necessary.

What are you doing to be the person you want to be?

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AI Isn’t the Enemy

As a writer and marketer, I spend a good chunk of time in forums devoted to these topics, learning and growing my skills and helping others with theirs. AI comes up A LOT. It’s a polarizing topic that prompts a lot of black and white thinking, especially among writers, but it’s here and it’s not going away. Like the internet was to news outlets at the turn of the millennium, AI is going to massively disrupt the way we live and work. It already is, but it’s just getting started. To be sure, there are some genuine threats from AI but also so many opportunities—and advancements. 

Andrew Smith

of Goatfury Writes, who will be the subject of my Thursday post, does a solid job breaking down the different AI out there now and what’s next.

From an AI that's no smarter than a Roomba to one that could outstrip human intelligence by orders of magnitude, we're entering an era of innovation that could redefine every aspect of our lives. —Andrew Smith

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It’s Barbie’s World, but We’re Still Here

As mentioned last Monday, our entire family (and my youngest daughter’s friend) did, in fact, make it to the Barbie movie, and I was… disappointed. My expectations had been so high. I fully expected to be so immersed in Barbie’s World and then the modern world that Barbie finds herself in, that I would forget the real world. I guess that was the point. 

The movie hit so close to home on so many levels that I never once forgot where I was or who I am—a woman and a mother—while watching. I connected most to America Ferrara’s Gloria, and the highlight of the film was her speech about the exhausting expectations women are held to.

Sure, there were some fun moments, and the sets, costumes and acting were well done, but overall the film was a giant reminder of how often power is an illusion and how easily rights can be taken away.

Amanda Montei of  Mad Woman wrote about bringing her 8-year-old to the movie and watching it through her daughter’s young eyes. She fretted about the impact the film would have on a girl who still believes she can be anything.  

Barbie opens in Barbie Land, a girl-boss utopia where women rule the world, every night is girls’ night, idealism and empowerment are the guiding logic, and kindness and goodness are always in conflict with the vague, contextless problems of the “real world,” which continually threaten to ruin the fun. —Amanda Montei

My kids are past the age where I’m shielding them from the harsh truths of the world, but as I sat with them in the theater, I couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking. I got the lowdown afterwards. They loved the movie, especially the in-your-face portrayal of bro culture.

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I Leave You With Some Mid-Summer Manifesting

For those of you who need a little pick-me-up this, I highly recommend 

Donna McArthur

of the The Bright Life’s midsummer message, which feels so needed right now. And a little like we’ve come full circle. 

Here’s just a little snippet. Go read the rest! 

May you

Know that you matter, you are worthy at all times, and do not need to prove yourself,

Know that your efforts are worthwhile, even when it doesn’t seem like it sometimes,

Know that you have the ability to learn & thrive and in doing so will move out of your comfort zone. —Amanda Montei

Enjoy!

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