Anti-Social Media

I’m trying not to let the anxiety take over. Like many people (most?) I’m not really sure what to do. So, I’m doing what I can and staying home. As I’ve said jokingly to my friends, self-isolation and social distancing are totally in my wheelhouse!

I don’t feel like I have much of my own to add to the larger conversations happening all around me right now, but I do think that it could be useful to share some things that I have found valuable.

Click to read: Fear can be useful

Mark Manson’s Motherf*cking Monday email newsletter is generally pretty awesome. This week’s message was compelling, and he linked to a couple of excellent articles as well.

Click to read: Thoughts on Coronavirus

I don’t know who this Bobby Hundreds guy is, but he’s got some good thoughts and has put them into some good words. This article was linked from another newsletter I subscribe to, and the author went so far as to say “If they write a book about this time in history, what you’re about to read will be the foreword.” I’m not sure I’m willing to take such a stance (there are many artists out there, putting beautiful thoughts into beautiful words and sharing them), but it’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

My parents, who are wintering in Brownsville, Texas, are packing up and driving home this week. I’m relieved. They’ve been down there since January, and were supposed to stay another month, but…

Even though I won’t be able to get together with (or hug!) them for a couple of weeks after their return, I’ll be very glad to know they are back home.

It’s time to slow down, take measure and figure out what is truly important to you.

If you can, please stay home. If you can’t stay home, keep your distance from others. Not for your sake or for theirs, but for everyone’s.

While physical distance is necessary, emotional distance is not. It’s needed more than ever. Be kind. Be patient. Reach out. We have so many tools to stay connected. Find new and interesting ways to use them. Do what you can.

Love.

Hello, March. I’m well.

I failed at posting every day in February, but I learned a lot from trying. Now to see if I can implement that learning!

In the meantime, I freaking love this:

O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Like the moon, I am inconstant.

I like to think that I’m pretty good at doing what I say I will do, being where I say I will be at the time I say I will be there. I am generally true to my word and honour my commitments.

I’ve learned to do this by only committing to what I am confident I will pursue/achieve.

But I feel like I am not always able to consistently show up for myself. It can be difficult to always do the things I decided I would do, make the changes I think I want to make. Is it because I am only accountable to myself? Or that I expect too much?

I do think I am getting better at this. My method is to be more specific in defining what I want and how I plan to do it.

Mindfulness and self-reflection are amazing tools. But it’s still difficult work.

Our wood stove is not playing nice. The pipe is clogged and it’s not drawing properly. Landlords have been notified and it will probably get cleaned out early next week.

The weather has improved today and it’s back above zero, but yesterday it was bloody cold so we did our best to have a fire, unfortunately it left the house rather smoky.

I made banana muffins this morning. Partly because, well, who doesn’t want yummy muffins, but also to try to cover up the smoky stench in the house. I thought it worked, but I just got home from a walk and it just smells like smoky bananas!

🔥🍌

dil·et·tante
noun

1. a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.
2. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
3. a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.

Most often used as an insult, but what’s wrong with being an amateur? A dabbler? An UNprofessional?

Nothing. Not a damn thing.

I often think about my relationship to time. I do not like to be too busy. I like to have a lot of freedom and open space in my days. I like to follow my whims. I enjoy just sitting. Thinking or basking in a sunbeam or watching the steam curl up from my cup of coffee or tea. Gazing into the fire, reading a few lines of a book. Trying to form thoughts into words.

I can’t make time, but I can take it. I can make space and then simply be in it.

This is one of the few areas of control I have over my life and I relish having the ability to do so very little with it.