Category: Thoughts

Searching…

by MAÔ, posted in Organization

I worked with a guy who would delete every text message on his phone that didn’t come from his wife. It was an elegant system, in that once the loop was closed, he no longer needed the text message. So het got rid of it.

On the other end of the spectrum, someone like Stephen Wolfram apparently saved basically every scrap of paper he’s ever received, and uses digital backups of all his informational correspondence and projects. It’s databased, and he can basically find just about anything he’s ever worked on, in some form or another.

While I’m at neither extreme, I am defintely closer to Wolfram in the hoarding bits of paper and computer files. I’m nowhere near as technological as he is, but last year I did start scanning documents that I had collected over the years.

This comes up because (while in seclusion), I’ve been cleaning up my computer files some. This time has given me some insight into how I systemize my computer, and my life. Needless to say, it’s been a little messy of late.

But that’s okay! It’s fun to be messy sometimes… as long as you can find what you need.

The day after tomorrow

by MAÔ, posted in Thoughts

In a crisis situation, it may be more pertinent to focus on the present rather than the future. The future can look awfully far away when you’re dealing with the day-to-day changes that seem to keep popping up.

However, what the future may show us is that this virus, as well as our response to it, fundamentally changed how we live our lives, conduct business, and interact with each other going forward.

What I’m thinking of specifically is the dissemination of information across the internet, how we can utilize it more efficiently for education, business, and entertainment, and what that flow of data will look like.

Comcast report usage up 32 percent on March 30th. Gaming platform Steam saw traffic up 25 percent since February. Internet conferencing and preferencing a computer over a cell phone have also increased during this shutdown.

I believe that once the country is able to revert to more normal circumstances, we’ll see some interesting data regarding how the internet is being used, at least in the short term. Many are learning new tricks for their computers, including video conferencing and distance learning.

Additionally, people are going to want to spend time together. More than they had previously. While some introverts may find this time in seclusion refreshing (I count myself among them), the whole will likely feel a push towards renewed intimacy. Maybe dinner table conversations without a cellphone screen.

One idea I’ve always loved is that of a salon, “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.”

Maybe when we reopen, you’ll consider hosting a salon-style party, sharing stories of all you learned online while you were staying home.

Building routines in solitude

by MAÔ, posted in Organization

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

The past five weeks or so have been hectic, to say the least. Routines are either strengthened in such circumstances or fall apart.

Personally, I’m only now coming into a routine I’m getting happy with. And mostly I’m stealing it from other suggestions, or I choose to fall back on old habits.

Every morning I write my morning pages (MP), a la Julie Cameron. I’ve been doing this on and off since Nov. 2015, and this year I’ve been fairly dedicated to it. In quarantine, it’s been no problem.

The challenge I’ve had is actually waking up and doing the pages first thing. I’ve unconsciously built up a routine of checking my phone first thing in the morning. Well, that had to stop.

In Dalio’s Principles, he says it takes about eighteen months to change a habit. I’d always heard it was twenty-eight days, before reading Dalio. While a little research may enlighten my understanding, I’m going to wait a bit before running down that rabbit hole.

Following my MP, I do a morning meditation. I either use my Insight Timer app, or I’ll use one of the guided meditations I have from the CDM Spiritual Center.

Then I sit down to write. That pretty much makes up my morning, other than coffee and something to eat for breakfast. Coffee actually comes first once I shamble out of bed. The food comes in at about 11 am.

I’ve actually set this out on the calendar app, and try to follow it as closely as I can. The afternoon routine will come in a later post. I’m still tweaking that one.

Some interesting things for quarantine

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Some interesting curatorial things have popped up over the last few days:

First, Bookshop, a marketplace for books from independent booksellers around the country. I love bookstores. I love bookstores, and libraries, and any place where the smell of ink and old pages seems to blend into something ephemeral.

However, I also like the convenience of shopping online, coupled with the availability of just about any book, in print or otherwise, given you’re willing to pay the price. And, often, the prices tend to be a little cheaper on Amazon.

The price factor may not sway towards Bookshop’s favor, but the sudden increase in online availability could be a boon to struggling booksellers during this COVID-19 crisis.

I’ll explore some of the elements of competition between Amazon, Bookshop, and brick-and-mortar stores at a later date. That’s a lot of info to cull through. But, if you’re interested in buying books, give Bookshop a chance.

Second, if you’re not in a place financially to purchase new books (hello unemployment waiting period…), visit The Internet Archive for their National Emergency Library! I love this place. I haven’t done a lot of actual reading, beyond just browsing digital collections. But, wow. There is so much material here that it’s amazing. And right now, it’s complete access to library collections due to the crisis.

Third, this hefty article on productivity from Stephen Wolfram. The man knows his stuff. Back around 2014, I was introduced to a lot of the neat features of the Wolfram Alpha programming that helped my iPhone’s Siri function.

I’m constantly trying to improve my productivity and routines, partially because it’s so easy for me to fall back into bad habits. At times, it’s difficult for me to… SQUIRREL!

But seriously, making little improvements to how you spend your day is in your best interest, always.

The Procrastination Trap

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

There’s a saying: “Why put off to tomorrow what you can put off altogether?” It’s a riff off the more popular: “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can get done today.”

In the age of doing so much, staying on all the time, busy schedules and busier inboxes, it’s easy to procrastinate.

What I’ve realized is, the longer you put it off, the less likely it is to get done. Regardless of your intentions.

There is a cumulative power in putting this off, and two days postponed is greater than one plus one: it compounds.

Of course, this applies to work without deadlines. That’s a different form of procrastination, and any of us who have jobs or went to school recognize putting things off until the deadline looms.

Most of this insidious form of procrastination – putting off until it’s a vague notion in the back of your mind – spring up from personal projects. Things you might actually like doing. Yet, it put them off for the more “important” things.

If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to reprioritize.

Where it comes from

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

I’ve been somewhat isolated up here in Alaska. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve gotten a lot reading done, worked on a couple of projects, though not nearly as many as I should have (yet). But while I’m writing now every day, I’m wondering how much “water” is in the well.

That is, how many ideas can I pull out of my current situation?

Here, or anywhere, that can sometimes be a difficult thought.

I don’t recall which Seth Godin book I read this in, but Johnny B. Truant said: “You don’t hear plumbers complaining about plumber’s block.” (Found this quirky counterargument that, yes, plumbers can get plumbers’ block…).

People using creativity can get stifled. It happens. Stephen King doesn’t let it happen, by setting up his time to write in routine. Every morning he sits down and writes. The thoughts don’t get in the way.

Neil Gaiman also: when he sits down to write, he can either write or do nothing. By nothing, he’s talking about any other tangible task. He’ll sit there and think, stare out at the scenery, and basically let his mind wander.

And that’s what shower ideas are so damn useful! And sometimes annoying, because, you know, if you want to write that idea down, you’re in the shower and paper and pen aren’t really nearby. And you’re wet.

There was a podcast I listened to at some point, could have been three years ago, or eight, or anytime between. I don’t remember when. But the guest was talking about writing music. And how the muse would strike at the most inopportune times, like driving down the road. The tune would just fully form. But, the guest was driving, and at the time this was happening I’d assume there weren’t recording devices on cellphones.

So this guest made a deal with the muse. I’ll paraphrase what I remember, but it went like, “Muse. I’ll give you ample time to lead me in creativity. But it has to be the times that I’m able to use what you’re giving me. So, no more coming to me when I’m driving. I’ll sit down and open myself up to you every day, and that’s when you’ll visit.”

And it worked for the guest. (No, I don’t recall who the guest was, or even if it a male or a female. Only that it was a songwriter.)

All that is to say, the ideas can come from anywhere. As long as you’re open to them.

 

Easter

by MAÔ, posted in Holidays

This year, especially, it seems that families will be close for the holiday. We’re in lockdown across the country, restaurants are predominantly closed, and we’re able to be with each other in ways that seemed impossible just last year.

It used to be that most places closed on holidays. Until they figured out that there was a market for shopping on holidays. For eating out. Then, as one or two started opening, others followed suit. Pretty soon, the holidays were just another set of days.

But this year, that’s not possible. We’re inside. If lucky, we have the outdoors to wander about in. And if we’re lucky, we have our family. Someone to spend this time with. To grow closer with. To drive crazy, as families tend to do when cooped up together.

Still, view this time together as an opportunity.

Be Excellent To Each Other | Keanu reeves, Funny pictures, Ted

What do you want?

by MAÔ, posted in Thoughts

I keep asking myself that question. Continually, at times. A month of relative seclusion has let the question bounce around significantly more than usual, what with only self-imposed distractions.

And that’s the unique situation we’re in. We can tune out the inner voice – with Netflix, or news, or some other distraction.

Or, we embrace the inner voice. Find meaning in extraordinary circumstances, and move the needle forward on life.

So, what do you want?

Disconnected

by MAÔ, posted in Thoughts

There’s an element of misunderstanding for many of us during this time of crisis. Most of us, I expect, would rather be working, if we are among the millions now unemployed, furloughed, or stranded somewhere. If the work is front line work, in the hospitals, for instance, it’s scary work. Scary, but meaningful. Life-saving is always meaningful.

Then there are others, fortunate to work from home, or less fortunate but still required to work – delivery-service who may run the risk of infection from the job,

There’s information, there’s misinformation, and there’s fear. The fear is what gets at the heart of it. A fear that’s been creeping into the Country long before the virus emerged. A fear that life, as it was before, will never be seen again.

It’s the fear of men and women who don’t know what the new normal looks like, and the fear of younger generations who don’t know what the new ‘new normal’ will look like. We’ve been heading down this path for a while, with shifting populations, immigration ebbing and flowing, social preferences and liberalities altering on a seemingly daily basis.

What all of this should tell us is that: There is no certainty. We could fight so hard for the  America we remember as children, to restore it to what we view as its former glory, only to have even that which we’ve come to know replaced by an unexpected epidemic.

New normals will inevitably come, to be again replaced by something newer. We shouldn’t grip so tightly onto the past that we don’t savor the present. Because something could be waiting around the corner to shake the present loose, and we might like what comes after even less.