To My Heart's Content #4

A slightly chilly, October welcome to my fourth round-up of much-loved content bits from last month or so.

NUMBER ONE: Four for you, Heinekin! You go, Heinekin!

One thing I ardently despise in marketing is brands attempting to inject their relevance into cultural trends that, quite simply, aren't relevant. I see this time and time again on Twitter; the social media world's hotbed for poorly thought-out newsjacking by people who have as much creativity and judicious, relevant connection-making ability as my little toe.

HOWEVER, having binged (and loved) Squid Game, I had a lot of time for this intelligently simple ad from Heinekin. Not only did they make clever use of their existing branding within the creative, but the ad concept actually makes sense in congruence with the show. While I may not agree that Heinekin truly is the best pick for beer (salut, Peroni die-hards), I cannot deny how perfectly on-point this ad was. It also looked great, so there's that.

NUMBER TWO: Maggie O'Farrell

At this stage, I'd read a grocery list if Maggie O'Farrell had written it. Her books are a pure masterclass in storytelling. I didn't realise quite how much effort goes into writing stories that feel entirely effortless to read; something I learned on her episode of Elizabeth Day's How To Fail podcast (yes, I'm stalking her digital existence like a Millenial teen whose bestie just went on a successful Tinder date).

I can't decide which of her stories I love the most, so I recommend you just order her entire oeuvre and lovingly make your way through the lot—like I am currently.

NUMBER THREE: A podcast discovery of dreams

Given that two of my favourite things in the entire world are women and books, take a second to picture my glee to discover the Bookshelfie podcast. An entire podcast dedicated to interviewing female authors on the books that shaped their life ????

I have rattled through these at an alarmingly hungry-book-reading-feminist rate, and particularly loved the episodes with Elizabeth Day, Bernadine Evaristo, and Ruby Wax. When I say that my dream job would be hosting this podcast, I'm really not joking.

NUMBER FOUR: Maid on Netflix

I kinda feel like recommending a "Top 10" Netflix series is pointless given its very position in the chart demonstrates its social permeation already. BUT, I'm sorry, Netflix's Maid is simply too good not to share.

Although some scenes made me scream at the television in frustration, Maid covers topics of domestic abuse, homelessness, and women's rights with so much care and sensitivity that you can't help but fall in love with the scriptwriting. The dialogue is often so on the nose it hurts. I guess that's the magic you get for leaning on actual, real women for the storyline, scriptwriting, and production ????

Plus, a bonus bite: though you definitely won't be swooning over Nick Robinson's character (at all), you certainly can swoon over his new shaggy hairdo and physical advancements into adulthood. A treat for the eyes—if only you watch him on mute.

NUMBER FIVE: Mel Robbins on just about everything

So, I'm having a bit of a Mel Robbins fest apparently. Having listened to her on the Happy Place podcast (which I wrote about here), I then decided to hop on her LinkedIn Learning course about confidence. And it did not disappoint.

My favourite takeaway was that, contrary to popular belief, confidence is not a personality trait—it's a skill. This is so simple, but it's something I've never thought about before. I found it refreshing to remind myself that the people who wake up in the morning and genuinely love themselves (!?) probably didn't wake up that way. Because there is no secret sauce. You have to cultivate confidence, just like you would any other skill in life.

As someone who has, at times, struggled with near-debilitating periods of low self-confidence (the joys of being a hormonal woman; thanks a lot birth control), this is a friendly reminder to myself as much as anyone else that you really, genuinely, truly can become confident—in yourself, your career, your life—if only you put in the work.