Two weeks ago, my refrigerator broke. One afternoon, I noticed that it felt too warm inside, so I measured the temperature with my meat thermometer (perhaps not the most accurate, but it’s what I had). It was like 60°F in there.
Not knowing how long it had been too warm, I had to throw out some food. Including $40 or $50 worth of meat I had just bought the previous day. 🫠
I started fridge shopping immediately. I watched one hundred refrigerator repair YouTube videos. We replaced something called the defrost thermostat, which was definitely going to fix the problem, and when that didn’t work, we replaced the circuit board. (Which also didn’t fix the problem.)
After about a week of troubleshooting with lukewarm (literally) results, we threw in the towel. I did some budget whack-a-mole to figure out where the $1500 would come from, and my husband picked up our lovely new stainless steel french door fridge.
A working fridge is one of the many things most of us take for granted. I do not spare one single thought wondering whether my fridge is cold enough… until it isn’t cold enough. Similarly, I take breathing for granted until it’s 2am and I’m trying to sleep but I’m sick with a bad cold and both nostrils are 80% blocked. (This happened recently, so it’s fresh in my mind.)
I still have that new-fridge glow, where I walk into the kitchen and think, “Wow, that’s a nice-looking fridge, and it’s keeping my perishables at a safe 37°F.” But eventually (read: soon) I will begin taking my fridge for granted again. My cold cleared up and I’m back to breathing without thinking about breathing.
But we need situations like this to interrupt our lives and help us appreciate what we have — especially when the world around us is weird and bad and gratitude is the last thing on our minds.
Not to bring up Justin Bieber for the second time in three weeks (lol), but I can’t not mention his song EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH. It’s a sweet song celebrating simple moments and the types of things we take for granted:
Let’s take a walk, hallelujah
Sun is out, hallelujah
Brand new day, hallelujah
Brush my teeth, hallelujah
I especially relate to “sun is out, hallelujah,” as the seemingly perpetual Saskatchewan winter is finally, finally thawing. Tomorrow is May 1, and we still have some snow banks clinging to life around town. But they’ll be gone soon.
Melting snow, hallelujah
Spring is here, hallelujah
Working fridge, hallelujah
Old, broken fridge exiled to patio (see the snow?!)
New fridge, hallelujah
On the topic of small joys and simple pleasures, I have an announcement 👀
This summer, Wishful Working is come to snail mail.
Ads and paid subscriptions haven’t (yet) felt like the right move for this newsletter, but I would love to offer special snail mail editions of Wishful Working for readers who want some fun goodies in the actual mail. Each snail mail edition will have a theme and will include a letter, a postcard/print, stickers, and surprises!
Be on the lookout for more details and signup information very soon.
I need to thank my freelance friend Rachel for the inspiration — her snail mail newsletter, Snail Life, is literally the best thing that lands in my (real, physical) mailbox each month. Snail mail clubs are trending lately, but Rachel is a real pioneer of the form 😎
See you next week,
Kara
Out of Office
What I do when I’m not working (Bringing this back because why not!)
Reading: Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell. I’m almost finished with this one, and I’ve loved it! It’s romantic but very grounded in real life. Rainbow Rowell is one of my very favorite authors. I trust her implicitly.
Watching: The Pitt! We just started season 2. I wasn’t sure I could stomach a somewhat graphic medical show, but I got desensitized to it pretty fast. I’m enjoying it a lot!
Doing: I’m starting a puppy training class with my Aussie pup tonight! He is four months old now and growing like a weed. He’s so smart, and I’m excited to have some support for the training I’ve already started. Puppy tax:
Kara Detwiller is a writer and creative based in small-town Saskatchewan. She specializes in long-form content writing for enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and manufacturing clients. She is also working on her first novel, among other creative pursuits. To connect, reply to this email or find Kara on LinkedIn.
Why Wishful Working? I want to help people thrive in a world obsessed with work and productivity. Together, we’re expanding the definition of productivity, rediscovering life balance, and exploring the many kinds of work that make life possible.
