Category: Personal development

Indian woman decluttering her bathroom, looks a bit guilty and is carrying a bag of toiletries to throw out
Featured
Cat Links Personal development, Sustainability

Spring Cleaning My Conscience: Confessions of a Reforming Toiletries Hoarder

Posted on Aparna

When it comes to decluttering, toiletries are often the most guilt-inducing. While clothes and books have options for secondhand donations, expired or unused toiletries typically end up in landfill. In this post, I dive into the ways we accumulate excess beauty and hygiene products—from corporate freebies and bulk-buy sales to well-meaning gifts—and share strategies for reducing waste. … Continue readingSpring Cleaning My Conscience: Confessions of a Reforming Toiletries Hoarder

Featured
Cat Links Personal development

All heroes fall: the dangers of idolization and the need for critical thinking

Posted on Aparna

Being critically engaged is exhausting, especially in our information-saturated world. It’s tempting to adopt someone else’s complete worldview rather than developing our own. This might be practical for minor matters, but it’s so dangerous for consequential issues. … Continue readingAll heroes fall: the dangers of idolization and the need for critical thinking

A black and brown sheep in a flock of white sheep
Featured
Cat Links Brown culture, Personal development, Social justice

Pigment and Prejudice: Reflecting on Colorism’s Insidious Impact

Posted on Aparna

As a child born in India, I learned that being “Snow White” was the epitome of beauty, a lesson reinforced by media, family, and society. But this isn’t just about personal aesthetics; colorism has real economic consequences and feeds into broader systems of oppression. Will we ever break free? … Continue readingPigment and Prejudice: Reflecting on Colorism’s Insidious Impact

earth garbage bag
Cat Links Personal development, Sustainability

Fighting small battles for the planet against the omnipresent cult of new consumption

Posted on Aparna

Appreciation for physical goods is engrained in our culture, perhaps in human nature itself…but you can live a rich and luxurious life in material goods with very little money and reduced additional environmental impact if you know where to look. This post asks us why are we going to Amazon first rather than thinking about whether what we want is available at Goodwill or on our local Buy Nothing group? … Continue readingFighting small battles for the planet against the omnipresent cult of new consumption