Were you surprised to hear that Time Magazine named Taylor Swift their Person of the Year for 2023? I admit my initial reaction wasn’t an overwhelming endorsement of the choice.
Welcome to week 45 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week. In addition to thoughts on Taylor Swift’s honour, this week I look at AI’s water consumption, nerdy tree facts, calcium content of plant-based milk, and sustainable hostess gifts.
The Sunday Spark – Week 45
On my mind this week: Person of the Year 2023
This week, Time Magazine announced Taylor Swift as their Person of the Year for 2023. Taylor joins a long line of celebrities, businesspeople, politicians, and ideas or trends, who have been awarded this honour.
Even as a music lover, I admit my initial response upon hearing the news was “Seriously? Couldn’t they find anyone else? How has she changed the world for the better?”
First, although I’m not a Swiftie and don’t own any of her music, I do like Taylor Swift, so my reaction isn’t in any way a knock against her. She’s undeniably a great musical talent, performer, and storyteller. She has faced adversity in her career and bounced back stronger than ever. That alone makes her more worthy of the honour than many others who have gone before her.
There’s no doubt Taylor has captured the attention of the planet. Her Eras tour has generated billions of dollars of economic activity. There likely isn’t a person alive who hasn’t heard the words Taylor Swift at some point this year. Heck, I even wrote about her in an earlier edition of The Sunday Spark. (Read It’s time to end concert ticket extortion for my thoughts on the chaos that ensued when tickets for her Toronto shows went on sale.)
But the downside to her fame is many people spent money they couldn’t afford to attend one or more of her shows. The Time Magazine article discusses fans who quit their jobs to “commit to fandom full time” and sadly, one fan in Rio de Janeiro paid the ultimate price when she collapsed during a show and later died.
A more deserving winner?
To be honest, I don’t know who a more deserving winner would be, and I definitely think Taylor’s accomplishments have more merit than Barbie’s—who actually made this year’s shortlist. At least Taylor is a real person!
Perhaps with the state of the world in 2023, we all just need to be entertained. There’s no doubt that Taylor delivers on that front. Even so, her win is an interesting commentary on the influence of privileged celebrities in our world.
Am I being too critical? What are your thoughts on Time’s Person of the Year? Who would you have given the award to in 2023?
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- Our Christmas trees are up and decorated, so the house is looking very festive.
- On Tuesday, I had a lovely dinner out and catch-up with friends.
- I finally wrapped up a project at work that has been on my to do list for four years.
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
AI is thirsty work
We don’t often pause to think of the environmental impact of our online activity, but an article this week gave me food for thought.
AI requires data, lots of data. And that data requires storage in large data centres that use water to prevent overheating. Interestingly, Microsoft’s global water consumption jumped by 33% in 2022. And Google wasn’t far behind with a 20% jump in water consumption. (Source: Earth911)
Coincidence? Perhaps not!
Nerdy facts about trees
This week I attended a virtual talk by Ross Reid from Nerdy About Nature. During his talk I learned a few interesting facts about trees.
Did you know that trees have been around for 450 million years? Unlike their coniferous cousins, deciduous trees are relative youngsters—they’ve only been around for 90 million years. Today, about 1,100 species of conifers remain. That sounds like a lot but consider there are around 300,000 deciduous tree species. That’s a lot of trees!
Which plant-based milks have the most calcium?
I’m not a big milk drinker so I’ve started to use plant-based milks in my smoothies and some of my cooking. Calcium is one of the main reasons people drink cow’s milk, but many plant-based milks have as much, or more calcium than cow’s milk.
A cup of 2% dairy milk contains 293 mg of calcium, so about one quarter of the daily recommended intake for adults.
There are lots of plant-based milk options on the market. In terms of calcium content, hemp milk tops the list with 499 mg of calcium per cup, followed by pea and almond milk with 451 mg. If you’re a fan of coconut milk, you might want to consider calcium supplements because it contains 0 mg of calcium. Walnut and cashew milk are also low in calcium at 24 and 47 mg.
(Source: Earth911)
Sustainable living tip: Eco-friendly hostess gifts
If you’ll be attending holiday parties and are looking for gift ideas for your host or hostess, check out my list of 12 awesome low waste hostess gift ideas for gifts that won’t fill the landfill.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
Good morning! I think – possibly – that hero worship is part of our psyche. Emulating another’s lifestyle might be slightly different. I, for sure, try to design a lifestyle fed by the knowledge of my old people – none of whom are famous!! I would not want to be like these famous people – I certainly would not like to wear what they wear or live in those nasty gold tapped mausoleums that they call homes.
You make a great point about hero worship. I do think it easily turns into wanting to emulate the lifestyle. I’m with you. I would not trade places with them. There’s a lot to be said for the peaceful life. Thanks for reading!
Honestly Michelle, I rarely give a second glance to the annual Time award, although if I happen to catch a glimpse at the lists they finalize I will inevitably be shaking my head in disbelief. Apparently I don’t understand the criteria involved to be a “person of the year” as my viewpoint is much different on who might deserve those accolades.
I switched to plant based milk many years ago, mostly because I rarely drink milk of any kind as a beverage, only use it as an ingredient and I was tossing expired dairy milk too often to keep using it! Almond is my go to choice, totally unsweetened but with a hint of vanilla. It’s exclusively for my overnight oats or my raisin bran 🙂
I agree with you, Deb. I think we idolize the wrong kinds of influencers and leaders.
Like you, I rarely drink milk other than a small splash in my tea, although I admit plant-based milk doesn’t go well with tea. My daughter suggested I try oat milk instead of almond milk in my tea. I’ll have to give that a go.
Good luck with the oatmilk. I don’t mind it, but I also find it very Oat-y in taste that comes through in beverages
I agree that celebrity and uber-wealth are very sad goals which many of us have somehow internalized in our psyches here on planet earth. And — like the power and water consumption which AI and bitcoin and online gambling and WordPress blogs require — they come at a high cost to all of us which is rarely highlighted, mentioned or discussed. I recently read about how extraordinarily huge the energy consumption of the super-rich is — due to private planes and mega yachts and several homes etc. etc. etc. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. I hope you are able to watch the Taylor Swift documentary. That was when I became aware of how powerful Ms. Swift has become regarding politics in the USA because she can reach millions of passionate fans with a few clicks on her phone. And many of those fans are female. And women’s ability to make wise choices about their own blessed bodies is proving to be a (not-surprisingly) galvanizing issue yet again here in the USA. I am guessing she and her team tend to downplay Ms. Swift’s political power in an attempt to shield her from MAGA folks who might get crazy and dangerous. Her new boyfriend, for example, gets flack from MAGA folk for promoting vaccines on TV… Thank you for another terrific blog post — both inspiring and thought-provoking!
You’re right, Will. I came across an interesting statistic recently when researching a blog post. The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population account for 50% of global air travel and, although it wasn’t stated in the piece I was reading, I suspect it’s true of all other kinds of consumption.
I do admit, I hadn’t given much thought to Taylor Swift’s impact on the political process. Now if only she could get her followers to get out and vote. It could change the landscape of many of our elections because there is so much apathy among young people when it comes to politics.
This comment is great!! Thank you! I must be the only person in the world who knows next to nothing about Taylor Swift but if she is using her media power for good then that is wonderful. She will need a shield though – her opposition is dangerous.
Yes. I hope she has really good security.
I like some of Taylor’s music, and I understand why she is popular with young people (particularly females). I’m pretty sure she has done good things that I’m completely unaware of. I don’t begrudge her on capitalizing on her popularity and talent, though the price of concert tickets rubs me the wrong way. I would hope that she uses her platform to accomplish positive things in the world.
I definitely think she spreads a message of female empowerment which isn’t a bad thing at all. I agree that she has a huge platform and an opportunity to do good.
I like Taylor Swift a lot but worry that these people of the year are often rich people. Trump was on the list and Zuckerberg.
Are there any more humble people who have made a difference?
Ugh, yes! And not to mention Elon Musk, who is also on the list.
That’s exactly the point I was making to my daughter the other day. People see these celebrities, and want to emulate them. They think they can live like them, not stopping to realize that their lifestyle is for a privileged few and out of the reach of the rest of us.
I don’t know what to think about the Taylor Swift business…person of the year. I had the same reaction as you, Michelle. Admiration for her tenacity and talent but I can think of so many others who could use recognition for their environmental work and philanthropy. Sigh. Maybe she will pivot further to use her substantial platform to be a powerful change agent, given her enormous fan base? Maybe she is already doing so and I’m unaware?
Lastly — hey there! Thanks for the great hostess gift recommendations! I have a friend who makes sure I’m stocked up every year in ‘tea towels’ and I love her practical gifts SO much. You curated a great list! 😉
My sister made an interesting point about Taylor Swift yesterday when we were out for lunch. I don’t remember this but, in the last US federal election, she encouraged all her fans to get out and vote. If she can find a way for young people to pay attention to what’s going on in the world and exercise their democratic duty, that would be a good use of her platform, in my opinion.
My pleasure on the hostess gift ideas. Glad you enjoyed them.
Have an excellent Sunday, Vicki!
Your sister is right! Swift’s documentary “Miss Americana” (not the tour documentary but the one she did prior) focused on her artistry and her journey to find her voice and speak up, politically. Although the outcome was disappointing in terms of who won, she was captured on film taking personal risks as she took a stand. It’s on Netflix I think. Worth a watch. xo! 😉
I will check it out. Maybe it will change my mind!
Eh….I bet not, but your sister’s right. It was a nice quality to see in Taylor Swift. 😉