Category: Writing

If asked ten months ago what 2020 was going to look like, my estimates would have been way off. I think that’s true for everyone. And, while this Halloween season is pretty scary, it’s not scary for any of the good reasons I usually like to associate with this month.

So again, I’m left with what actually did become a rather busy month, as October somehow always seems to be my busiest month of the year. At the same time, it’s all very different.

I wrote about Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October back in 2017, and also mentioned it again last year. And, I didn’t read it this year. Which is a shame, because its premise is that on Halloween, when there is a blue moon, something major happens.

And here we are, approaching a Halloween blue moon. It’s okay though. I’ve read it plenty over the years, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.

For a little astrology related to the blue moon on Saturday, here’s a piece from Bustle.

To develop focus, it isn’t so much about eliminating distractions as it is to mindfully accept them and continue on. Life is distracting. No distractions could equate to no life. No one lives in a bubble. Even those in Covid-free bubbles are distracted by many things.

The important thing is to pull yourself back. As in meditation, when errant thoughts arise, just acknowledge the thought and then pull yourself back to the moment.

The same applies when building focus as a skill.

Sometimes you get in a rhythm when you’re working on something, and after playing in a program for so long it gets to be very comfortable. I used to use Microsoft Excel all the time. I would argue that I was fairly close to being an expert in it. I knew hotkey shortcuts, could import live data, make charts do exactly what I wanted them to.

Then, in 2007, version 12 was released. I was flummoxed. I couldn’t get my head around it. I got my first personal Mac the next year, perhaps coincidentally, so I didn’t even bother taking the time to figure out v.12.

Similarly, I’d been using GarageBand following OS updates, after mostly using Audacity to record a radio program I’ve been producing for several years. And, again, it was highly clunky.

I was forced used to use it, however, and so I found that there were elements of the program that I did enjoy using.

There are people who keep backup copies of Windows XP because they prefer that system over any subsequent update that Microsoft released. And, I’ll admit, I prefer the Office Suite on that operating system over the more recent ones as well.

But, times change. Computer programs change a lot more swiftly than people. So we’re left to adapt, hopefully identifying the changes that we enjoy – and that those changes outweigh the cost of losing the familiarity we had with the program to begin with.

Here’s an observation I’ve made in this election cycle. From what I’ve seen there are two kinds of people who want to vote for the incumbent. The one point-of-view I have difficulty understanding. It is that, no matter who is in office, as long as it’s someone from your own party, you’ll vote to keep that person in.

Likewise, Democrats also have a view – as long as it’s their party, that’s the route. A lot of loberals felt disenfranchised in 2016 and didn’t come out to vote. This election is reinvigorating them – not as a party in support of the Democratic candidate, but as opposition to the Republican incumbent.

Maybe that in itself is the negative facet of a two-party system. That to support your agenda as a whole, you have to look over shortcomings that your candidate may have. Because the alternative, then, is your oppositional party…

I always thought that, if you didn’t like the work, don’t do it. There were so many job opportunities before, you could find something that you truly loved.

Now, with so many unemployed, it could be argued that just working is important. Not to be selfish. To provide for you loved ones, your family.

However, it holds true that you must love your work. If you can’t do the work you love, love the work you do.

There’s an element of stress that can prevent you from creating, achieving, or otherwise living an acceptable life. Stress can manifest in physical ailments, loss of focus, distraction, etc.

Still, there are those who perform best under pressure. When stress is on the rise, then the game is afoot!

In fact, many of us contribute to our own stress, putting off until deadlines loom closer projects of many different sizes.

What is the magic formula? The correct dosage of stress to make things possible without going overboard into full-on breakdown?

I have some ideas about this, but mostly they involve pulling away. Giving yourself quiet time to recoup. There are others who find different ways. This will be an exploration I pursue, and will post more about in the future.

Productivity is a bit of a hot topic, and right now it’s still kind of up in the air – WFH, unemployment, social distancing, etc. Here are some links to pieces about managing time that I’ve found useful:

• The life of the philosophers, and how they thought about staying active.
• How stress can disrupt productivity, and why we fall back into old habits.
• Mandy Patinkin on life, quarantine, and why perfectionism isn’t worth your time.
• And, on a different measure of time, how to keep your carved pumpkin looking healthy until Halloween.

And a quote I’ll leave you with, from Kickstarter’s Creative Independent – “Sometimes you have to make lots of bad things in order to get to that one good thing, but it’s never a waste of time. Being creative, making things, figuring yourself out—that’s never a waste of time.”

We tend to like things to be neat and orderly. Two ways about it, no shades of gray. (Unless you’re reading stories by E.L. James.) The right way and the wrong way.

Life isn’t that simple. Similarly, politics aren’t that simple. Politicians are, after all, people. And people make mistakes.

Most would feel comfortable holding those in the spotlight to a higher standard. Celebrities. Policians. Wealthy business-people.

But, they are people.

When politics get messy, and they do get messy, it’s our responsibility to pay attention.

Three debates down, and now less than two weeks until the election. Early voting is up, and we must continue to be vigilant in our duty. Our duty as Americans.

Otherwise, it can get very messy indeed.

I was recently washing dishes by hand and a thought occurred to me. If everything you have brings you joy, then even the act of cleaning up – washing dishes, dusting, sweeping, etc. – is bringing you into contact with objects that bring you joy. You’ll enjoy cleaning.

This is a concept that Marie Kondo talks about, in a way. I don’t recall her ever saying that the act of cleaning will become joyful, only that you should only keep items that bring you joy. But the two seem related.

The obstacle is when there is too much stuff – and not all of it brings joy into your life.

In a way, I guess it’s a endorsement of minimalism.

“I recommend you take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” – Earl of Chesterfield