How is it possible that 2023 is more than half over? It feels like Christmas was a few weeks ago, and soon back-to-school sales will start, and Halloween merchandise will appear in stores. Summer is a great time to breathe and slow down the pace of life. My June 2023 roundup and goals update has some reading suggestions you can enjoy as you soak up some sun or sit in the shade of a leafy tree.  

Read on for posts on the financial implications of the stay-at-home girlfriend trend, the perils of ChatGPT, embracing religious differences, the dangers of name calling, surprising benefits of depression, and a stray kitten story that will warm your heart. Happy reading!

Cool things I read in June

Since publishing my first monthly roundup at the end of 2020, it has been an honour to introduce you to some of my favourite bloggers. I started the roundup to say thank you to the blogging community and bring attention to talented writers who create funny, inspiring, and informative content.

Here are 6 pieces that caught my eye in June.

The Stay-At-Home Girlfriend trend: Why it’s financially dangerous – BravelyGo

Women have fought for years for equality with men, yet a growing number of young women are willingly sacrificing their independence to be stay-at-home girlfriends. This post from BravelyGo looks at the longer-term financial implications of this choice.

But what they don’t address is that living this way is abandoning their independence at every level, not having access to money in your own name, not having your own financial accounts, not having a work history, not having work references. This is a very dangerous way to live in the United States. There are very few social safety nets in our country. And the ones that we do have are tied almost entirely to your work history and how much you have paid into the government in the form of taxes.

BravelyGo – The Stay-At-Home Girlfriend trend: Why it’s financially dangerous

The danger with ChatGPT isn’t what you think. It’s worse. – Wise & Shine

ChatGPT has been making the news a lot lately. In this thoughtful piece, AP2 wades into the debate around the ethics and implications of this new technology.

If we allow AI to replace the real artists of this world — who have always acted as a mirror for the human soul —we may lose sight of ourselves altogether.

Wise & Shine – The danger with ChatGPT isn’t what you think. It’s worse.

Staying curious – Monty’s Blahg

In this post, Monty shares his insights into faith, belief systems, and whether different religions can find harmony.

I tend to believe there is a single truth, but there is no single understanding of that truth. In fact, there are as many understanding as there are creatures contemplating the truth.

Monty’s Blahg – Staying curious

Stray kitten karma – A true story – Wise & Shine

If you’re a cat lover, or just fan of feel-good heartwarming stories, read Todd’s post about the day he found a stray kitten.

How sick was it? When was the last time it had eaten? Was this behavior normal? Was this cat about to pass out? Or worse? Was it just sleepy?

Wise & Shine – Stray kitten karma – A true story

The Danger of Insults like sheeple, woke, karen and snowflake – Invisibly Me

Every once in a while, you read something that make you say, “Yes! Right on!” This post from Caz at Invisibly Me was one of those moments for me. It discusses the damage done by words and insults we hear every day.

There’s another problem that comes from this building bitterness and condescension, aside from how it’ll continue to grow because this miserableness loves more power. It’s causing more divides, right when society needs to be working together and bridging these gaps. It is increasingly becoming a “me versus you”, and an “us versus them” mentality. 

Invisibly Me – The danger of insults like sheeple, woke, karen, & snowflake

The surprising benefits of depression – Wise & Shine

AP2 was on fire this month with a second featured post from the Wise & Shine site. This post takes a different look at depression. It’s well worth the read.

It might well be the case that the modern mental health crisis is a product of us all having become weaker thinkers. Instead of engaging in some deep thinking when our mind is telling us to do so, we are drowning ourselves in a sea of distraction.

Wise & Shine – The surprising benefits of depression

What I wrote in June

In case you missed any of these, here are the new posts I published in June here on Boomer Eco Crusader.

• The Sunday Spark – It’s not a small world after all
• Why preserving green space matters – A Climate Change Collective post
• The Sunday Spark – Who are these stay-at-home girlfriends?
• The Sunday Spark – Canada’s worst wildfire season ever
• 25 simple and fun summer activities
• The Sunday Spark – 15-minute cities are a good thing
• Get ready for Plastic Free July 2023

In addition to my new posts, I also refreshed and republished this post from 2020:

• The shocking truth about microplastics and your health

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June goals – How did I do?

When I set my goals for June, I wondered if I would be able to put an end to the roller coaster trend from the first part of the year. Would this be the month when I actually managed to string together two good months in a row? Let’s see how I did.

Fitness goals

June was a good month on the fitness front. I met my weekly goal of 150 minutes of exercise every week, not counting my daily walks. Plus, despite some rainy days and several days with air quality warnings, I managed to meet my goal of 30 outdoor walks in the month with 30.

Declutter 150 items

I challenged myself to declutter at least one thing from five areas of my home every day in June, for a total of 150 items.  This was another goal I exceeded with a total of 166 items decluttered. Watch for a full report on what I learned from the challenge in a separate blog post later this month.

Cut the candy

Ah Candy…my evil nemesis. After a disastrous May, I took a different approach to this in June. I decided that avoiding candy during my workday would get me closer to my goal of limiting candy to once a day. The end result, I managed 25 out of 30 days where I indulged in candy only once a day.

Read three books

June was a busy month, so I had less time for reading. While I fell short on this goal, I still managed to read two books:

• Before I Go To Sleep – S.J. Watson
• On Writing – Stephen King

Writing

As I’ll be travelling in July, I needed to get ahead on blog posts. I met my goal of having all my regular posts for July scheduled by the end of June. The exception is the weekly Sunday Spark posts that I write at the end of each week.  

My July goals

I’m happy that I managed to reverse the roller coaster trend and string together two good months in a row. Can I achieve a three-peat in July in between travel and helping my daughter prepare for her big move west? Here are the goals I’ll be working towards this month.

• Fitness goals: With 30 outdoor walks in June, I estimate I walked around just under 100 kilometres. In July, my goal is to increase that to 150 kilometres for the month.
• Reading: Vacation is a great time to get in some reading. What else is there to do at airports, on planes, and in hotels when there’s no housework begging? My goal for July is to read 4 books.  
• Help my daughter pack for her move. Maybe this one is a cheat because, no matter what, she’ll be getting on that plane in mid-July.
• Finalize my “60 before 60” list. I celebrate my 59^th birthday in July, so I’m putting together a “60 before 60” list of things I want to do before next year’s big milestone birthday.
• Prepare my President’s Report for next month’s conference. This is another one that kind of has to happen. As the President of my professional association, I need to deliver a state-of-the-union type speech at our conference in August. I need to get my slides done before I leave for my vacation in late July.
• Cut the candy: While I made some great progress in June, I’m still a long way away from slaying the candy beast. Again, I’m setting a goal of limiting candy to once a day.

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Thanks for dropping by to check out my monthly roundup. I hope your July is off to a great start.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the posts I’ve shared. Tell me what you think below.