One of the best things that happened to me was Elon Musk making Twitter require an account. I used to doomscroll all the time anonymously but then made a conscious choice not to get an account, so I simply cannot access it or at least entire threads. There is something magical about reading a physical book. It is tangible; you can flip the pages and feel them between your fingertips. You know how far you’ve been and how far you have to go (rather than the endlessness of “feeds”). I find myself much calmer and reflective if I read even just twenty minutes a day. I’m currently reading stories from Robert E Howard’s “The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.” It’s fun and free of all wokeness. It also taps into the primal instincts of what it means to be a man and woman. Also, the early stories like “The God in the Bowl” and “The Tower of the Elephant” have a surprising amount of mystery and detective work that I had not remembered in my first readings.
Well done, Shaina. I've been battling my own toxic productivity by relegating social media scrolls to one day a week and cutting myself a break every now and then. I didn't go running this morning, and to my surprise the world didn't end.
Slowing down and reconnecting was a primary driver behind my military retirement in 2019. I was addicted to the hustle so moving into high profile government contracts feed my addiction and paid handsomely. It took a few years for me to realize I wasn’t reconnecting with myself and my family like it intended. I wasn’t writing. I lived among 500 unfinished home projects. My health suffered.
I quit corporate, refocused my business, and put my writing career front and center. Now, I’m right where I truly belong. Sure, there are many things to button up and the habit shifts are still a thing but I’m reading more now, publishing regularly, and gaining momentum as a writer each day. Great post, Shaina!
Lovely, Shaina. So great to hear and so very important to notice those moments and sink into them, even if they are brief.
I tend to be a morning person myself, and I cherish getting up long before my wife does so I can sit with my morning caffeine, often before sunrise, and either read or write, or simply find a slow moment before I need to be getting ready for work.
This is the cautionary post...I write this from a perspective of being well into the retirement. I have the proverbial 'all the time in the world ' now, to read, drink coffee and complain. But I waited too long and didn't retire until I was forced to by circumstances beyond my control. Not meaning to make this a morose entry. But I lost those minutes, hours, days, years that I thought I would share reading, drinking coffee, complaining and laughing, sharing, living, and can't get them back. Now I'm having to do my best to live and enjoy what I can and what I still do have. Rediscovering reading in it's many forms is one of my joys. Shaina, you are absolutely right to grab all the time you can to do those things you really love to do, and with those who you really want to share! BTW, on a lighter note, I can claim a direct memory and imprint of those 'TV' trays that you mentioned. Tipped over more than one.
Beautiful reminder. I'm carving time to do more of this too.
One of the best things that happened to me was Elon Musk making Twitter require an account. I used to doomscroll all the time anonymously but then made a conscious choice not to get an account, so I simply cannot access it or at least entire threads. There is something magical about reading a physical book. It is tangible; you can flip the pages and feel them between your fingertips. You know how far you’ve been and how far you have to go (rather than the endlessness of “feeds”). I find myself much calmer and reflective if I read even just twenty minutes a day. I’m currently reading stories from Robert E Howard’s “The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.” It’s fun and free of all wokeness. It also taps into the primal instincts of what it means to be a man and woman. Also, the early stories like “The God in the Bowl” and “The Tower of the Elephant” have a surprising amount of mystery and detective work that I had not remembered in my first readings.
Lovely reminder of filling those bits of time wisely and in ways that bring joy.
I'm reading The House of Mirth, bit by bit.
Well done, Shaina. I've been battling my own toxic productivity by relegating social media scrolls to one day a week and cutting myself a break every now and then. I didn't go running this morning, and to my surprise the world didn't end.
Slowing down and reconnecting was a primary driver behind my military retirement in 2019. I was addicted to the hustle so moving into high profile government contracts feed my addiction and paid handsomely. It took a few years for me to realize I wasn’t reconnecting with myself and my family like it intended. I wasn’t writing. I lived among 500 unfinished home projects. My health suffered.
I quit corporate, refocused my business, and put my writing career front and center. Now, I’m right where I truly belong. Sure, there are many things to button up and the habit shifts are still a thing but I’m reading more now, publishing regularly, and gaining momentum as a writer each day. Great post, Shaina!
Lovely, Shaina. So great to hear and so very important to notice those moments and sink into them, even if they are brief.
I tend to be a morning person myself, and I cherish getting up long before my wife does so I can sit with my morning caffeine, often before sunrise, and either read or write, or simply find a slow moment before I need to be getting ready for work.
I like it. I read it a very long time ago so know the basic trajectory of the plot. It's also a book well suited to intermittent reading.
This is the cautionary post...I write this from a perspective of being well into the retirement. I have the proverbial 'all the time in the world ' now, to read, drink coffee and complain. But I waited too long and didn't retire until I was forced to by circumstances beyond my control. Not meaning to make this a morose entry. But I lost those minutes, hours, days, years that I thought I would share reading, drinking coffee, complaining and laughing, sharing, living, and can't get them back. Now I'm having to do my best to live and enjoy what I can and what I still do have. Rediscovering reading in it's many forms is one of my joys. Shaina, you are absolutely right to grab all the time you can to do those things you really love to do, and with those who you really want to share! BTW, on a lighter note, I can claim a direct memory and imprint of those 'TV' trays that you mentioned. Tipped over more than one.