Carousel: How To Have The Perfect Dinner Party, Casting Spells With Your Orgasm, And Collective Effervescence!

Hello lovely! Welcome to this month’s Carousel. It has been a wild month, so if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, don’t worry, I got you. There is plenty of stuff in here to pick up your spirits. Happy Aquarius New Moon, and have a wonderful weekend!

25 Best Psychology Books From Derren Brown You Must Read Before You Die. Okay, so that’s an aggressive headline, but if you’re interested in the mind, these books are right up your alley.

The Modern Charm of Practical Magic, or, why is palo santo being burned all over Brooklyn?

Madonna’s Full Acceptance Speech at Billboard Women In Music 2016. If you haven’t seen this yet, don’t sleep on it! Her speech about sexism, misogyny and feminism is truly epic.

Status Anxiety About Happiness Is a Dumb American Habit. So let’s think about our lives differently, huh?

How to Have a Dinner Party: Friends Not Required. I remember reading in Tim Ferriss’ first book about how having weekly dinner parties increased your life satisfaction. Well, now there are apps to help you! I’m so into this.

Sex Magic: How to Cast Spells with Your Orgasms. Because why wouldn’t you?

9 Ways to Improve Your Love Life because we always need more ideas.

Radiant Human Captures the Auras of New York. Christina from Radiant Human is one of my favourite people and this profile in Vogue couldn’t be better deserved! (See also: an appearance from yours truly.)

Does “America’s Next Top Model” Still Have Something To Say? For years, ANTM fostered the kind of complex conversations about race, gender, and sexuality that are finally happening more widely in mainstream American TV and culture — even as the newest version of the show might leave them behind.

Pretty Little Liars Star Lucy Hale Tells Hackers Who Leaked Her Nude Photos to ‘Kiss My Ass’. Yes girl!

How to Make Friends Faster. This is useful!

Maybe our fear of being alone is the root of everything bad?

Ivanka Trump Will Not Fix “Women’s Issues”—She Will Distract From Them. The problem with “exceptional” women. Oh lordt.

What if you have a crazy psychedelic trip and you’re not sure how to return to normal life?

Got wanderlust but you’re not sure where to go? Check out 52 places to visit in 2017.

 More Madonna — here’s an excerpt from her latest badass interview:

“Does somebody ask Steven Spielberg why he’s still making movies? Hasn’t he had enough success? Hasn’t he made enough money? Hasn’t he made a name for himself? Did somebody go to Pablo Picasso and say, “Okay, you’re 80 years old. Haven’t you painted enough paintings?” No. I’m so tired of that question. I just don’t understand it. I’ll stop doing everything that I do when I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ll stop when I run out of ideas. I’ll stop when you fucking kill me. How about that?” — Madonna

How LSD Saved One Woman’s Marriage.

10 signs you were once obsessed with LiveJournal. This was my LIFE before 2006.

These are little obvious things but sometimes you need a reminder.

I’m fascinated by creative process and especially the process of comedians. I think they are operating at a higher level than most of us. This interview with Jerry Seinfeld is fantastic.

It’s very important to know what you don’t like. A big part of innovation is saying, “You know what I’m really sick of?” For me, that was talk shows where music plays, somebody walks out to a desk, shakes hands with the host, and sits down. “How are you?” “You look great.” I’m also sick of people who are really there to sell their show or product. “What am I really sick of?” is where innovation begins.

This gave me some comfort: Barack Obama’s Legacy Is More Secure Than You, or the GOP, Think.

Online friendships can’t replace in-person connection. You Can Be Happy and Lonely at the Same Time.

If you have a mouth like a sailor, there’s an upside! The More You Swear, the More Honest You Are.

The benefits of working out are numerous, and not just in how it makes you look. How Exercise Shapes You, Far Beyond the Gym.

What if non-stop hustling is making you sick and tired? What then?

I Don’t Dress For Men, I Dress For The Sea Witch That Cursed Me. Ahahahah.

The male gaze is not something I am interested in pleasing, so I don’t dress for men. And I’m not in the business of dressing for other women, either. In fact, I don’t dress for anyone on this planet except the Sea Witch that rises from the seas each morning to make me dance like her little fashion puppet.

 We’re all hooked on our smartphones and it’s unbelievably unhealthy. With all the totally insane news happening, it’s a better time than ever to take breaks from social media and staring at our screens.

All Your Favorite Writers and Artists Were Constantly Fucking, so don’t feel bad if you’re doing something similar!

What Witches Can Teach Us About Fighting Back Against Trump. Love, love, love.

How Polygamy, Role-Playing, and Less Sex Can Improve Your Marriage. See also: both wearing engagement rings, gratitude rituals, and painting yourself with henna. This piece really made me want to buy her book!

Don’t Let Them Tell You You’re Not at the Center of the Universe:

When we look out, we look into the past, the farther we look, the more deeply into the past we see. At the center is the present. Alas there is no direction in which we can look to see the future — except perhaps into our own hearts and dreams. All we know is right now.

 James Altucher tells us how to make $2000 in a weekend.

17 death drops that perfectly sum up your entire existence. HA!

Being part of a crowd makes you feel collective effervescence! I think we’re all going to be experiencing a lot more of this in 2017.

 Did you attend the Women’s March last weekend? Don’t let that be the only thing you do. Check out 10 Actions for the first 100 Days and stay involved!

Head Trip: Meditation Apps for Travelers. Awesome.

Ask Polly: I Hate Going Out, But I Feel Boring Staying In!

But keep in mind that some people don’t give a fuck what you want. They don’t just want you to want the things they want, they want you to BE THEM. When you don’t sound like them, it actually irritates them. When you don’t love the things they love, it makes them angry. I know that sounds absurd, but pay attention. People like that are alllllll over the place, actually. I wish I’d noticed that some friends loved me less exactly when I was the happiest. I wish I’d stopped trying to be someone I’m not just to make other people feel comfortable and right with the world all the time.

When you go from doing whatever comes up and hating it to being a visionary socializer who makes inspired, exciting plans with people who are deeply craving new, more meaningful ways of interacting, your life changes. You are being the kind of friend you want to have yourself. You are making the world a better, more inspired place for the people you love the most.

The marijuana business is apparently the hottest new industry for female executives.

Monogamy or not? Here’s a piece of research about the type of people who are the best fit for nonmonogamous relationships. It turns out that exclusivity and commitment are not the same thing.

Switching Detention for Meditation Seems to Really Work! This is not a surprise to me, but I love it either way.

If you have a tendency to sulk, it’s time to address it. Here are 5 ways to stop sulking.

Love to you,