I stumbled upon this video on YouTube this morning and watched it in its entirety. It’s all about why we all seem to be losing our focus.
It’s worth your attention.
Ponderings and Musings
Artificial.
In this day and age of instant gratification, everyone wants everything right now. Being able to order something online at 8:00 AM and getting it delivered by 5:00 PM is awesome. But then when we get cranky when it doesn’t work.
I have been looking for a small artificial tree for my home office. I’d like to have a little bit of something in the background of my Zoom/Teams calls to bring some merriment to the experience. In addition, I wanted a constant reminder as to what season it is, because even though we’ve lived here for even four years, when I look out over the desert landscape I still think it’s some time in July.
I have a plan for this little tree in my office; a plan that will warrant a separate blog entry when the whole affair comes together. In the meanwhile, I have been on the search for an artificial tree, and more specifically, an *unlit* artificial tree.
They are not easy to find.
Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Lowe’s… they all have plenty of trees with plenty of LED lights already installed. We have a tree or two that has non-functioning lights on a very functioning tree, so we end up putting more lights around the lights that don’t work. I don’t want to get into that situation again with this tree. So I’ve been on the hunt for an unlit artificial tree.
I finally found one on Target.com, and it’s only sold through target.com. UPS reports it will arrive on Friday. I like that. It’ll give me some time to get the tree up and still have a few weeks of enjoyment. I trust UPS more than the United States Postal Service these days. I’ve seen stories of packages going from Nashville to Seattle by way of Puerto Rico. I recently had a package take five days to get from Phoenix to Tucson. I know I-10 can get backed up at times, but that’s ridiculous. And yes, I know it’s the busy season.
I’m looking forward to when the tree arrives and I’m looking forward to bringing the festive vibe to my office. Even if it’s only July.
Journals.
I have used the Apple ecosystem (and recently web accessible) journaling app Day One for over a decade. Journaling is a practice I find very helpful in my day to day life. Day One allows me to look at my entries on this date in years past, and it’s interesting to see how much I’ve grown or not grown in some of my thought processes.
This past summer I started keeping a paper journal in tandem with my Day One journaling practice. My paper journal is focused on mental growth. I record interesting exerpts from my daily reading, thoughts I feel are outside of my “growth path”, etc. At the end of the month I go back and read all of my entries in this paper journal. I should probably write into my will that it is to be burned upon my death. I’m no Marcus Aurelius, but then again, I’ll be dead so what do I care what people think.
When I first read about the journaling practices of others, and how beneficial they found the analog approach to this activity, I was skeptical. However, seeing my thoughts in my own handwriting, versus typing it into Day One, has really contributed to living my life in a positive direction.
As an aside, I’ve also discovered that handwritten notes at work have improved my ability to remember things as well. There’s something about handwriting. It’s a shame the U.S. educational system is not as focused on efficient penmanship. There’s a lot to be said about muscle memory.
Dress.
Even though I have worked from home for over a decade, I still strive to wear “professional” clothes while I am at work. Here in Arizona that usually means a decent pair of shorts and a polo shirt.
For the first time that I can remember, I just finished a zoom call I was leading where I was wearing a ball cap and a hoodie, with just a plain t-shirt underneath the hoodie. I still have shorts on.
The world kept turning.
On Monday I shall be back to my “corporate garb” because it helps with my mindset during the workday, but for today, I shall relax and just get stuff done.
Thankful.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Not only do we normally have a most excellent meal, but we often have friends join us for the festivities. This year one of the best people I know in the whole wide world joined us for Thanksgiving for dinner. scott and I haven’t seen each other in nearly a dozen years, but we’ve kept contact via digital means. Our paths finally crossed today and it was like a day had not gone by. We are not going to wait another dozen years to see one another.
The family chefs made an excellent meal, we had great conversation, and it has been a most wonderful day.
I have a lot to be thankful for.
l to r: Mike, Chris, Jamie, Earl, Scott, Me
Gratitude.
I have been focusing on the gratitude I have for my life. This is rather a broad statement, but in a world that seems to focus on the negative, in these times it’s important for me to focus on the positive. People voted in the U.S. elections for negative reasons. I figure the way to figure this negativity is to be thankful for all that’s right in the world and put as much positivity as possible out there.
Sometimes I find this a difficult thing to do.
As part of my daily journaling practice I’ve been specifically writing down a recognition of the gratitude I’ve felt during the day, no matter how big or small. Even the smallest steps forward are still a step forward.
I’m good with that.
Today I’m grateful for having this blog and having the fortitude to share my feelings out loud like this. I don’t know if anyone reads these entries, and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than going to a therapist. But if my words make even one person smile today, then I’ve shared some positive energy.
And we need all we can get.
Madera Canyon.
Earl and I had a nice walk around Madera Canyon this afternoon. I decided to use up some of my remaining vacation time; this was a great way to do it.
Tribeless.
I’m sitting on our “ampitheatre”. The view looks like this:
Those two photos turned out better than expected, considering I just spun my MacBook Air around and pointed the webcam at the view. Hmmm.
Anyway, I’m out back, looking over our 2 1/2 acres, and hearing coyotes making a ruckus on the other side of the wash. This, in turn, is getting the dogs at the neighbors worked up. So there’s barking from them and a yip yip party from the coyotes. A bird to my right is making some noise as well. Lucky and Jinx are silent on the matter. They’re content in the house.
I think about these coyotes that have their yip yip party together, doing the whole ‘travel in packs’ thing. Good for them.
Today I remarked on Mastodon that I’m feeling like I don’t have a tribe. Oh, I have a wonderful family, both here at the house and back East, but outside of that, I don’t really have a lot of folks I would consider part of a tribe in these parts.
I attribute this feeling to growing older and my expectations of and approach to life changing as time passes. My politics are left of center but nowhere near the “far left”. For going out and socializing I’m content in a quiet beer and/or sports pub enjoying that sort of thing versus going to a gay bar and thump thump thumping my way through a sweaty crowd in time to a remix of a song from the ‘80s that the boys think is da bomb. I don’t vape in any flavor. I don’t identify as “queer”; in truth I identify as “fatigued”, but if I had to put a label on my sexuality, despite my Uncle Arthur like antics on my videos, I’m “more guy than gay”. I feel like mainstream entertainment like television shows has been dumbed down to Lippincott Reader K, and honestly, I have little patience for the willful ignorance that has plagued this 2020s society.
Boy I sound cranky. Small wonder I don’t have a lot of friends.
I talked to my friend Matt back east yesterday and it was so wonderful to have a conversation with him. I’m hoping to make a trip to see him some time next year. He’s the older brother I never had.
I get that I have a good life. I actually have a great life. And it’s not like I’m no longer a loner. I’m still very much a loner, I’m just a loner that wants to be around likeminded people once in a while. The digital connections are enjoyable but not a replacement. Maybe I need to talk to a therapist or something. It’d be like a paid tribe, I guess.
I attribute some of these feelings to the head cold I’ve had this week. I’ve been going to bed early and we haven’t done much of anything. Plus, the holidays are looming and for the past decade or so I haven’t really felt the excitement of the holidays. Earl has insisted we light up the Christmas decorations even though it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet.
I’m too fatigued to stand my ground so let the rest of the family have some extra holiday joy.
Maybe it’ll be contagious.
