Hear us out: Sex and the City is the Ninja Turtles for women in their thirties and up. Yes, no one has agreed with us before. And, of course, we get lost in the sauce trying to explain the parallels two and a half glasses of wine deep. But we must insist that Samantha embodies Rafael’s brooding sexuality; Miranda obviously has the brains of Donatello. Charlotte is a quiet yet confident leader like Leonardo. And Carrie? Replace her cigarettes (or weed) with a slice of pizza, and that goofy broad is a textbook Michaelangelo. (And if you tie the straps of a pair of Manolo Blahniks together, it’s a poor gal’s nunchucks.)
Perhaps this argument never lands because of the frivolity of the connection. Or maybe it minimizes the significance of a series many women have leaned on when taking any of life’s Ls — romantic, professional, footwear. But as the CIA braces itself for the agency’s largest mass layoff in 50 years, we “couldn’t help but wonder” what the intensity of female friendship could be capable of in a larger sense.
The ultimate bullshit detectors, gaggles of four or more gals have historically been able to decode far more than a Post-it breakup. Whether or not our manicures can take on the likes of Shredder, the girlies invented “receipts, proof, a timeline, screenshots.” When fighting bad vibes of all shapes and sizes, we’re more like an organized gang of mutant reptiles than we are not.
Coping Can Be Hideous
We all have our naughty habits that, taken in another light, are technically coping skills. Escaping into our phones. Having a few too many drinks or weed gummies. Picking fights to feel a sense of control. Whoops, we were human again. Time to hide.
Lauren Auer, a trauma therapist and a prolific writer, unpacked this unflattering side of humanity in a recent newsletter. Despite being grateful for surviving her past, her client was hit with the painful epiphany that “surviving was the ugly part.”
“I felt my heart squeeze with recognition. How many times had I sat in this space, witnessing the crushing weight of shame that comes not from the trauma itself, but from the desperate ways we found to live through it?” Auer writes. From drinking to perfectionism to rage, she now recounts the ways she’s coped in the past in a more positive light. “The ones I’d judged as character flaws until I understood they were actually clever adaptations, brilliant solutions my nervous system created when there were no good options.”
Research from psychiatrist Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, known for his work in the book “The Body Keeps Score,” supports Auer’s point that it’s not these adaptations that cause us problems but the shame people carry for their actions that keep us sick and stuck. And perhaps if we let that shit go, there would be more room for some healthier coping skills as well.
The full post is well worth the read, bolstered by additional data and strategies for how to deal with that icky feeling that things have gotten ugly. But Auer also offers a single piece of advice that may be helpful for anyone struggling:
“Here’s what I wish someone had told me then, what I now tell my clients with unwavering certainty: There is nothing wrong with how you survived.”
A Whole New High
There is a delicate art to combining caffeine and cannabis, but when you strike the right balance, it can feel like a hyper-productive magic carpet ride.
While some Instagram users claim the combination helps them manage their ADHD symptoms, the science on hippy speedballs is limited. What researchers do know about weed and caffeine is limited to monkeys and rats (lucky guys).
A 2014 study found that when squirrel monkeys were given THC, with the option to keep receiving more, they consumed less THC when it was combined with low doses of MSX-3, an adenosine that produces effects similar to those of caffeine. But when they increased the doses of the caffeine-like compound, the monkeys gave themselves more THC. This suggests that a bit of caffeine can uniquely boost your high, but too many cold brews could leave you couch-locked from afternoon bong rips.
But if you must indulge in a Wobble Sparkling THC Energy Drink courtesy of Crescent Canna, which contains 10 mg of THC and 100 mg of caffeine (about the same as a strong cup of coffee), remember to write everything down. Another 2012 study demonstrated that caffeine and low doses of THC impaired the working memory of rats more than high doses of THC alone.
Now you have an excuse for never knowing where your keys are.
The Forecast: The Forecast: Bitcoin is at $87,911.30/Gold is at $2,925.23/Women’s College Basketball North Carolina at Duke Thursday, February 27th at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET/ South Carolina at Ole Miss Thursday, February 27th at 7:00 pm PT/10:00 pm ET/You can probably find a higher pain tolerance at the gym
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