Good morning!

Hope you're well and happy this Friday morning. I have the day off today, and maybe I am wishing instead that I was in meetings because that seems to be what Fem Fri is about. Please keep reading as these are actually two of my favourite articles of recent times.

Firstly, I've been getting so much out of Sara Hendren's thinking, and so much clicked into place for me when I read her post about the "believing game" – assuming the best of an idea for a set period of time. This is a really fun thing to do and a good way to engage with the world and new possibilities. I keep trying to work it into work interactions that I have, let me know if you find a good way of using it:

But believing […] is a separate muscle entirely, a willed and practiced capacity to assume some idea in a text, or some possible technical choice, or some inkling held before a group, is worth considering as if it were full of truth, for a set amount of time. It’s not just the “yes, and” approach that improv-style brainstorming is famous for. Believing is granting some interpretation of what’s at hand a provisional but deep sense of rightness. For a set amount of time. For that time—for the length of the believing game—your whole self is devoted to this idea, to see if the space and breathing room you give it helps you to see it in its full possibility.

https://sarahendren.substack.com/p/playing-the-believing-game

I also loved this article about coming out to your parents via powerpoint, which is the best of both funny and sincere. A proper Friday treat, click through for the whole thing:

I approached coming out as many people approach their wedding day: something that is designated “for me” in name, but also a performance in service of my loved ones. It was right for me. Using a slide deck allowed me to take control of a potentially awkward conversation, clarify in straightforward terms what I anticipated from them and use the simultaneous absurdity and aggressively on-branded-ness of the presentation format to add humor to the situation.

https://www.autostraddle.com/i-came-out-to-my-parents-using-a-slide-show-and-so-can-you/

Have a great day! 💗

A xxx.