Eyes on your own paper.
I love it when I’m all “My goal is to write more!” And then I just …don’t write anything. But these few weeks have been A LOT. A LOT A LOT. I am feeling all kinds of feelings and don’t even know where to start with all that, so here are a few things that have helped me feel slightly better:
Pick an underfunded Go Fund Me and send someone in LA a little love. I picked a few from the list, including Tamir because I love a man who loves his cat. Don’t get overwhelmed, don’t overthink it. You can’t help everyone but you can help someone, so find a family or person you feel a connection to and send them a little money. It feels good.
Clean your social house. I said this before but it bears repeating: Go through your social media accounts1 and unfollow anyone you don’t truly enjoy. No more hate follows, no more frienemies, no more clickbait news. Also unfollow or mute the people who seem to delight in being a harbinger of doom. They’re always the first to post the latest bad news. The onslaught of information/misinformation we’re fed on a daily basis is not normal and our brains can’t handle it. It’s really okay to limit the information you’re being fed.
Get outside. We’ve been having an unusually sunny stretch of weather here in Oregon so I have been bundling up and walking outside every chance I get. 30 minutes of outside time (walking, running, biking, standing in a spot of sunshine) will only improve your day.
Make a connection, even if it’s awkward. There’s a woman at my gym who’s got a Very Serious Face and looks intimidating. The other night I noticed that rather than rush through the finisher (bicep/tricep/shoulder work), she was doing each rep of each exercise slowly and deliberately. I matched her pace and got way more out of it. Afterwards, I went over and thanked her for being a good influence. Y’all, her Serious Face lit up and we had such a nice conversation. It takes a lot for an introvert like me to approach someone but giving someone a sincere compliment is generally quite rewarding.
Burn the nice candle, use the fancy blank notebook, wear your expensive lipstick, drink the bottle of wine you were saving for a special occasion. January is approximately 147 days long so just take it easy and allow yourself to retreat a bit during the winter doldrums. Read a good novel, make some bolognese, re-watch Fleabag or Killing Eve. Go to bed early.
Heads down, eyes on your own paper. We’ll get through this.
For a lot of reasons I’m not giving up my social media accounts but I’m definitely trying to limit my time and manage appropriately.
I am also trying to do these sorts of things. I made all my social media private, deleted some apps, and am cleaning house. I am a Federal employee in DC so it has been a trial this week to preserve my peace, but dang, I am trying. DEEP BREATHS & outside walks FTW.
Yes - these past few weeks have been A LOT A LOT A LOT. Your advice is spot on and I’m trying to follow a lot of this. I want to keep my strength and focus and be ready to fight fight fight in any way I can. Not submit to the darkness as much as possible. We are not alone - today, or when you look at history since the beginning of time.