#5SmartReads - November 9, 2022

Hitha on menstrual regulation, on not doing it all, and Sadie Robertson Huff's message

November 09, 2022

How much do you know about “menstrual regulation”? The diagnosis, the treatment, the fact that it even exists (because I didn’t until I clicked on this article).

Now what if I told you that going to your OB-GYN to treat menstrual regulation may be the key to access to reproductive healthcare?

“Embracing menstrual regulation could be a way for conservative states to give health care providers some room to act. “Even very conservative states will need to find some way to cope with the fallout of making abortion illegal in such strict ways that they put things like miscarriage management and ectopic pregnancies into a category where physicians are afraid to act,” Sietstra says. “This is bound to lead to very poor public health outcomes.””

And given how little most men know about uteruses and menstruation…it may be a path to restoring some reproductive health care access:

The right to worship and practice your faith is an American right I firmly believe in. I feel even more strongly that religious doctrine does not have a place in our laws and governing, especially when lives are at stake.

So when did the lines between law and religion get blurred - and who’s contributing the blurring? And how profitable is that blurring?

If you’re Sadie Robertson Huff, it’s very popular. Her app’s subscription alone will generate six figures of revenue, along with major sponsorships for her podcast, her annual conference (tickets start at $99 and have thousands of attendees), bestselling books, and speaking tours.

And what is Huff exactly selling?

“But being here has, I have to admit, nudged me toward a deeper, less smug realization: Once you peel back the Jesus jargon, Huff’s regressive pitch can feel uncomfortably comfortable—because in certain ways, millions of us seem to be opting in on passive self-preservation. I gaze around at the 3,500 Sisters in this huge hall and wonder how many women in the U.S. would secretly relate: huddled in existential surrender, doing our best to just get through it all, hoping someone in charge swoops in and saves the world. Maybe LO Sister isn’t a fringe movement. Maybe it’s a mirror.”

I do not condone mocking anyone’s faith, or that a person’s faith should be the basis of our laws. I live somewhere in between - in being curious to learn how other people believe and worship and live, and to do my best to live a life of respect, love, and citizenship.

You may be quick to dismiss or skip this article, but I do encourage you to read it with an open mind, if only to gain a greater understanding of how other folks approach the problems we all face - loneliness, feeling like we’re losing control even more, and a sense of loss that the last two years have brought.

Well, maybe not today. But maybe Friday? Or next Monday?

In the pre-pandemic days, Tuesdays and Thursdays were the days I worked from my co-working space, and spending the middle of the week in the office seems to be emerging as the norm in this phase.

I hope you take the poll and share where you’re working from these days, because it appears to be all over the place from the folks I speak with in my DMs.

And if you’re lucky enough to work from home on Mondays, may I encourage you to adopt your own Gentle Monday practice?

“Part of living a really full and ambitious life is letting go of some of your power. It’s not a bad thing. There’s this false narrative, especially for women and definitely for female leaders, that we have to do it all. Now what I strive to do with Splendid Spoon is say, “You don’t have to be the only one.””

If you’ve heard me speak on a panel or in a workshop, you’ve likely heard me say “Power is not gold - limited, precious, and hoarded by a few. Power is like love - it is infinite and the more people that have it, the better we all will be.”

I’m going to add Nicole Centeno’s quote to my talk as proof of this, from a woman who’s built an impactful business and a close-knit family at the same time.

Splendid Spoon is a staple in our household, especially during the weeks when our days are packed with meetings and events and there’s no time to cook. And how Nicole built her business - on her own at first, and then with her team and COO-turned-co-CEO - is really inspiring.

She shares it all in this piece, and it’s one that I have saved, starred, and will be sharing whenever anyone asks me what it’s like to start and run a business while having a family.

I was yesterday days old when I learned what tetrataenite is.

It’s an iron-nickel alloy that has only ever been found on meteorites (cue the Armageddon memes). Tetrataenite has been studied to be used in permanent magnets for advanced machinery - EVs and space shuttle turbines, for example.

And we may have figured out how to manufacture it right here on Earth.

Please enjoy this very random and fascinating article that had me cheering “yay science!” as I read it. The scientific, geopolitical, and climate impact of scaling tetrataenite manufacturing in the United States and in Western Europe could be massive.

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