Matt's Mix Tape, Vol. 112

Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson, and this is Matt’s Mix Tape, a mix of essays + links on books, writing, and fitness as vehicles for a vibrant and creative middle life.

This week’s Mix:

• Performative Posts stack up bucks for Zuck. Let’s stop.

• “I don’t believe death is goodbye”

• How strong calf muscles may stave off dementia

• We’re back to “some booze is ok”

• This week’s Florida photo

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This week’s Mix Tape logo

This week’s logo ties to my essay below about the pressure we feel to create Performative Posts on Facebook.

It’s an arduous climb we don’t have to make.

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Performative Posts stack up bucks for Zuck. Let’s stop.

It’s a big week: My 20th wedding anniversary was Wednesday.

I felt I should write a heartfelt proclamation to my wife. 

Not to recite to her under a shady tree during a serene riverside picnic.

Not to write out with a feathered pen on scented parchment paper. 

No. To post to freaking Facebook. 

But who would that be for, really?

I did write to her. But I didn’t post it on Facebook.

This week’s essay looks at how Facebook has co-opted our best intentions.

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“I don’t believe death is goodbye”

If you’re of Gen X-ish to early-Millennial age, you may be dealing with aging parents. Karyn Flynn, who I met through Write of Passage, wrote powerfully about the passing of her mother in an essay called “I Don’t Believe Death is Goodbye”:

Over the coming days I felt her spirit flickering in and out of her body. There were moments when I knew she wasn’t in there and knew the body on the bed wasn’t my mom. I began to sense my mom was something more, something separate from her body. This realization tempered my incredible sadness and brought some peace.

I recommend reading the whole piece.

Karyn’s newsletter is called Holos50, and she writes about health and happiness for women at midlife.

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How strong calf muscles may stave off dementia

A 2017 study found a link between low blood pressure—specifically resting blood pressure—and dementia:

This study showed that low blood pressure is a significant predictor of cognitive decline and the probability of developing dementia. This was independent of age, gender, weight, cardiovascular, kidney or diabetic status.

Yikes.

So what can we do about low blood pressure? Building up our calf muscles can help. Seriously.

The soleus muscles, specialized muscles in the middle of your lower legs, are responsible for pumping blood back up to the heart.

[…]

An effective strategy for maintaining normal blood pressure, and brain blood flow, is to “re-train” your soleus muscles. These deep postural muscles are most active during activities such as sustained squatting or toe standing.

Do those calf raises.

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We’re back to “some booze is ok”

So is moderate alcohol consumption “approved” again?

A 2019 study concluded it was unsafe to drink any alcohol at all. But now a new study refutes those claims, stating the study was flawed:

Prof Frost goes further, adding that a glass of wine or beer with dinner can no longer be deemed as unsafe and that the UK chief medical officers’ guidelines, last updated in 2016, which advise it is safest to not drink regularly more than 14 units per week, spread over three days or more, are a good set of guidelines to follow.

And there’s an interesting note about dementia:

A 2018 study published in the BMJ showed that the association of alcohol with cognitive outcomes appears to be J-shaped or U-shaped with both zero alcohol and excessive consumption increasing the risk of dementia, while moderate alcohol consumption – no more than 14 units a week – associated with a lower risk of dementia. 

Cheers. 🍷

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This week’s Florida photo

Sunrise.

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Welcome to 12 new subscribers

Including Peter, Sid, Stephen and Simone! (I love it when Write of Passage peeps sign up.)

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