Write (almost) Every Day - Part 4

This isn't news, but life is hard.

I've already failed at the "write every day" thing.

It was never realistic.

I'm busy. I'm middle-aged. My energy isn't boundless, like it once was.

But, I want to write as often as I can.

Today, this week, this time, I am going to write about perspective in media.

I need to stop skimming the surface of our world. It is too easy to fall victim to click-bait headlines and misconstrued summaries. I need to read the whole thing. I need to seek out original sources and original interviews and find the context of the catchy news.

I know this as an academic (using this term loosely).

I know this as an adult.

But, it is so very easy to succumb to headlines and short-cuts and bad takes. It is so easy to not try and understand.

On this day / week / period of writing I want to do better. I will seek the full story. I will look beyond the headline. \

Only then, I will judge. 

Write Every Day - Day 3

I'm reconsidering the need for indoor plumbing.

It's one of those things that is nice and convenient, until it isn't. And when it isn't, it is an unholy nightmare - a shit show, if you will.

I spent nearly 8 hours doing a 'simple' home repair today. It started as a replacement of a shut-off valve and turned into an entire day of cursing, sweating and praying that Google had answers for why the fucking Shark Bite wouldn't come back off.

As with most days of frustration and pain, there were lessons too.

Most of the issues were caused by my lack of knowledge, my lack of planning and my lack of proper equipment. It turns out that balancing on a 3 foot wooden stool to reach the ceiling isn't a great strategy.

But, I tried to remember that I am incredibly lucky. It is my family home. I have to do it, because I own it (ignoring the fact a mortgage company owns way more of it). I can go to three different hardware stores for supplies and advice. I can spend the money and the time to try and get it fixed. These are privileges. They didn't reduce the f-bombs count much, but they are still privileges.

Just to be safe, I'm preparing a latrine and cistern tomorrow.

Write Every Day - Day 2

Obama, like so many before, was the gloss on the shiny lie.

Trump lays bare the reality of what the United States is, what Britain is, what Canada is - the list goes on. Trump lays bare the reality of a world set up and designed to help some at the expense of many.

Obama makes it seem like anything is possible.

That is true.

But, most things are not probable. Success, for too many, is not likely. Obama was makeup to cover that blemish in our world.

Write Every Day - Day 1

I am slipping. 

I've already slipped from youth to adulthood to middle-aged. But now I am slipping into inertia. I don't care much about the age thing. I suppose I wish I had done more, realized more, and tried more when I was young. But, I don't have many regrets. I am happy in middle-age. It fits me. I suspect it fits a lot of us that don't fit the ideals of beauty and desire. 

But, I can't abide the lack of caring I feel too often. I used to care so much. Sure, I cared about the wrong things, and dumb things and hockey way, way, way too much. But I cared. Too often I am unmoved. 

That is the problem. 

I am not in a place of serene non-attachment. I am unmoved by inertia and malaise and a general lack of fucks given. I used to move. I used to try. I am threatening to be beaten by life. Of course, life eventually wears us all down. Life is undefeated. Time will fuck us all over. I don't mean that. I mean I am succumbing to the subtle dance of time and stress and expectations and outcomes.

I am talking about.....

I am talking about....

I am mostly talking nonsense. 

Mostly, I need to remember to move. I need to remember to do. I need to remember to get up and go and do what I need to do to feel the way I want to feel and not wait to feel the right way to move. 

I expect I'll forget this reminder by tomorrow. 

Hopefully, I'll remember to write again then and remind myself.