I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but where does the time go? They say the days are long and the years are short. And yet, I blink and another day, week, and month have flown right by. This is hard. There’s so much I want to accomplish, at the same time, I want to take better care of myself too. In any case, it’s time for another speedlink, so let’s jump into it.

We start with an older article by Natalie Romero from CBC Parents that’s just as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 2019. She asserts that we’re “all making parenting harder than it really needs to be.” While one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we don’t feel as much FOMO about not signing up our kids for every which activity, us parents can still feel like we’re never doing enough for our children. We want them to have everything we didn’t and we don’t want them to “fall behind” their peers. And this creates tremendous, unbearable pressure.

Over on the Healthy Family Living blog, I’ve got a guest article discussing books that celebrate the Asian-Canadian and Asian-American experience. Things have gotten a bit better in recent years with programs like Kim’s Convenience and movies like Minari, but mainstream North American culture has a long way to go. Representation matters. If this sounds familiar, it’s because I originally shared it on Instagram. Do you have any other suggestions for books, TV shows or movies featuring Asian American and Asian Canadian voices?

Speaking of Asian Canadians and Asian Americans, one of the more influential voices in this space is Eddie Huang. The Baohaus founder, published author, and outspoken personality recently took to Vulture to pay tribute to DMX. I certainly can’t speak for everyone else, nor can Eddie. What I can say, though, is that ’90s and early ’00s hip hop culture was hugely influential for this Asian Canadian. And DMX was 100 percent a big part of that. He may have been flawed and hurting, but that’s exactly why he resonated with so many of us.

Roger Patterson, CEO of Later, shared his opinion on Entrepreneur.com about side hustles. More specifically, he asserts that we need to stop calling them side hustles. He starts with the example of SmartSweets founder Tara Bosch. I remember meeting her at a Healthy Family Expo a few years ago. Last year, she sold the sugar-free gummy bear company for $400 million. Don’t call her a “boss babe” with a “side hustle.” That’s a legit business like any other. You’ve got to ask yourself: is this a hobby or a business? In other words, you’ve got to respect your own entrepreneurial ventures before you can expect anyone else to give you the same respect.

Instructor, educator and speaker Morten Rand-Hendriksen is one of the smartest and most insightful people I know. (I use “I know” a bit figuratively, as I don’t think we’ve ever met in person.) He took to The Sidebar on LinkedIn this week to remind us that politics belong at work. Indeed, everything is political, whether you recognize it as such or not. As Morten points out, this is especially true when you’re “making decisions on behalf of other people,” as would be the case with web design.

Yes, this is hard. So, let’s talk.