There’s this lovely newsletter called The Moon Lists that arrives in my inbox sporadically, always just when I need it. It’s a list of prompts, topics for journaling, ideas for reconsidering how you’re living or not living. One prompt from a recent dispatch: “PHANTOM LIMB: Name something you miss but — if offered — you don’t actually want back.” A curious provocation! Missing without longing, a new way of considering the things and people and ideas we leave behind.

People have taken in recent years to posting “More/Less” lists and “In/Out” lists on social media at the end of the year, itemized declarations of things they’re going to embrace and eschew in the coming months. Take inventory: What stays, what goes? The Moon Lists’ version of this is “Away/Toward” lists, and for the past couple of years I’ve loved filling these out. What am I moving away from (gorgeous but sad acoustic folk music that inevitably leaves me feeling depressed; diseased houseplants) and what am I moving toward (lowering the stakes; abbondanza!). The problem so often with these lists is that you fill them out and then you forget them. You set intentions and then you get back to going about things unintentionally and the next thing you know it’s February and your well-considered plans are buried in a drawer.

What if these New Year traditions became New Month traditions? What if we started each month with an Away/Toward list or a Yes/No list or a Loving/Losing list and kept it front and center all month, stayed accountable? What if, today, Feb. 1, you scrawled down a few things you want more of and a few things you want less of and set a couple of alerts in your phone to remind you to look at it throughout the month, and maybe set aside a half an hour on Feb. 28 to assess how you did?

A lightweight ritual. An experiment for the month that reminds you at intervals that the project of living is not just the business you have to carry out day to day. It’s not just the things to be done or the headlines or the weekend plans or the future and its endless what-ifs. It’s also — maybe principally? — you, an interior process, who you are and who you’d like to be and how are you doing in your efforts at being and becoming that?

So soft, right? So self-helpy, and maybe you’re reading this on a particularly busy or stressful Saturday morning when you have things to do — who even has the time for this? Maybe you already have practices that remind you of your larger goals, or you never forget them in the first place. But if you are anything like me, underneath the rational voice that just wants to accomplish, you’re craving a little more ritual, something brief and self-contained that for a moment derails the inexhaustible locomotive of living and reminds us we’re still here, people with desires and ambitions and complicated hopes and tender needs that we’re always forgetting to check in on.

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THE WEEK IN CULTURE

THE LATEST NEWS

CULTURE CALENDAR

🎬 “Companion” (out now): A movie produced by the team behind the delightfully unhinged horror “Barbarian,” starring Jack Quaid and about the perils of technology? Sold. This dark comedy is about a couple — Iris and Josh — who get away for the weekend with friends. A tip: There’s a twist at some point in the film, so Quaid suggests not watching the full trailer.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Mushroom Barley Soup

Chilly February days keep me close to the kitchen, which is easily the coziest room in the house. Simmering a pot of Yasmin Fahr’s mushroom barley soup gives you a perfect excuse to hang out there, chopping, cooking, then letting the mix slowly bubble on the stove. It’s on the lighter, brothier side of the soup spectrum, but the starch from the barley gives it body and a satisfyingly nubby texture, ready to warm you through and through.

REAL ESTATE

The Hunt: After a year in Japan, a couple wanted to return to Columbus, Ohio. They bought a home from 10 time zones away. Which one did they choose? Play our game.

D.I.Y.: Drilling holes in the wall can be scary. Here’s how to hang anything, without fear.

What you get for $240,000: A colonial-style house in North Adams, Mass.; a three-story brick house in Pittsburgh; or a 1930 rowhouse in Baltimore.

LIVING

Travel: Spend 36 hours in Accra, Ghana.

Health: Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic have had many other, unexpected benefits. Scientists are studying whether they can protect against Alzheimer’s.

In the garden: A bird’s guide to surviving winter.

High art: Modern weed paraphernalia looks so cool, you won’t mind leaving it on the coffee table.

ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER

The best timeless jewelry

Over the years, Wirecutter’s experts have recommended hundreds of rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Tastes vary and trends come and go, but if you’re looking to give someone a piece of jewelry, it’s hard to go wrong with something classic, like a signet ring or a curb chain. We’ve happily gifted or worn each of these sparkly pieces ourselves. And while none are holiday-specific, if you’re searching with a valentine in mind, we think a heart locket is a good choice. — Samantha Schoech

For more handpicked gifts and expert advice, sign up for Wirecutter’s weekly newsletter, The Gift.

GAME OF THE WEEK

North Carolina vs. No. 2 Duke, men’s college basketball: As the college basketball season ramps up to March Madness, Duke is setting itself apart. The Blue Devils have won 14 straight games. Their star forward, Cooper Flagg, isn’t just the best freshman in the country; he might be the best player at any age. Over seven games in January, he averaged 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. That included a 42-point explosion against Notre Dame, a record for a Duke freshman. Today at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN

NOW TIME TO PLAY

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were additional and dilation.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines.

And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

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