A buddy of mine likes to say, “Time is undefeated.” But we still get three timeouts and can take it into OT if we’re lucky. It’s wild to realize your Last Waltz/Reunion Bowl post was four years ago. Firing up the DVD player soon.
Wishing you a peaceful end of the semester with a minimum of student crises and awful administrative catch-22s.
I just happened to see your Instagram story post about how much more relaxed you feel when you're not bombarded with constant phone notifications, and it reminded me to take a little better care of myself and my attention. (Your observations so often have this clarifying effect that I really cherish, even just little things like that.) When there is too much demanding our focus, then we don't really get any of it fully, and life can feel so scarce. And when we can see and feel the true limits of things, we find can find them so much easier to appreciate.
There are only so many people I actually can message. Who do I want them to be, and what do I want to talk to them about? When will I be able to sit down and do so appreciatively? And if this life really is as fleeting as the stiffness in my ankles is starting to tell me it's gonna be, what will I attend to while I can, and what will I not? And how can I slow myself down enough to actually be present for what I choose, rather than trying to inhabit everything, and never really be there?
I like to think that if I could live forever, I would still greedily soak up everything and never tire of it. I'm never satisfied, in that way. But of course, I do know that I'm never going to get my fill in this life, and that's probably what actually keeps me hungry.
"There are only so many people I actually can message. Who do I want them to be, and what do I want to talk to them about? When will I be able to sit down and do so appreciatively?"
This is at the heart of it, I think, and the hardest part for me. I find it easy--pleasurable even--to ignore tasks, media, etc. that I have little interest in or take little joy in, but setting that same boundary for myself with people can be nearly impossible. The DND phone lifestyle is one of the only hacks I've found to make that feel realistic, like I'm in control of my own brain and attention for more of each day. Pretty nice!
A buddy of mine likes to say, “Time is undefeated.” But we still get three timeouts and can take it into OT if we’re lucky. It’s wild to realize your Last Waltz/Reunion Bowl post was four years ago. Firing up the DVD player soon.
Wishing you a peaceful end of the semester with a minimum of student crises and awful administrative catch-22s.
I just happened to see your Instagram story post about how much more relaxed you feel when you're not bombarded with constant phone notifications, and it reminded me to take a little better care of myself and my attention. (Your observations so often have this clarifying effect that I really cherish, even just little things like that.) When there is too much demanding our focus, then we don't really get any of it fully, and life can feel so scarce. And when we can see and feel the true limits of things, we find can find them so much easier to appreciate.
There are only so many people I actually can message. Who do I want them to be, and what do I want to talk to them about? When will I be able to sit down and do so appreciatively? And if this life really is as fleeting as the stiffness in my ankles is starting to tell me it's gonna be, what will I attend to while I can, and what will I not? And how can I slow myself down enough to actually be present for what I choose, rather than trying to inhabit everything, and never really be there?
I like to think that if I could live forever, I would still greedily soak up everything and never tire of it. I'm never satisfied, in that way. But of course, I do know that I'm never going to get my fill in this life, and that's probably what actually keeps me hungry.
"There are only so many people I actually can message. Who do I want them to be, and what do I want to talk to them about? When will I be able to sit down and do so appreciatively?"
This is at the heart of it, I think, and the hardest part for me. I find it easy--pleasurable even--to ignore tasks, media, etc. that I have little interest in or take little joy in, but setting that same boundary for myself with people can be nearly impossible. The DND phone lifestyle is one of the only hacks I've found to make that feel realistic, like I'm in control of my own brain and attention for more of each day. Pretty nice!