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Right about when I think about getting serious about reducing how much time I spend falling down internet rabbit holes, I stumble upon some excellent writing, some fresh ideas, that are worth saving and sharing. This time of year there are many "This year I'll..." "Start the new year with this..." kinds of posts, but here are a couple that are really great and worth a read.
My high school friend Brain Fay is an incredible writer. Long ago we were the world's worst employees at the local Ace Hardware, kicking around as we both waited for the next step in our lives between college and our future professions. He has a great post - Drip, Drop - about wanting to make a significant change but approaching it a little at a time. He's doing this with the hope of being healthier and some day changing his profession. "The drips come one after another, almost in a trickle, and I can already imagine the trickle becoming a stream if not a torrent and me riding away on it to another life." He has many other great posts - go check him out!
I am my own harshest critic. It's something I want to change or at least manage better. So I appreciated this article in the NY Times, The Year of Conquering Negative Thinking. "The first step to stopping negative thoughts is a surprising one. Don't try to stop them...Worry and obsession get worse when you try and control your thoughts...Instead, notice that you are in a negative cycle and own it."
I LOOOVE Jen Hatmaker. She seems to put in to words exactly what I need to hear. Two recent posts are awesome, Chicken and Fries ("When the same views are bandied around the group endlessly, it causes ideas to seize when they should remain fluid.") and When Is It Time to Walk Away ("Reaching a point where you say "enough" to a toxic environment is not cowardly - it is so very brave.")
And finally, author Lisa Scottline (she writes great fiction!) reran a piece she wrote about unResolutions, "a list of things we've been doing and we'd like to keep doing." Among her unResolutions are sleeping in her clothes and making too much food. One of mine will be to keep losing myself in good fiction :-)
Enjoy!
I remember us being only the best of employees at Ace Hardware, but my glasses are rose colored when I look behind me.
ReplyDeleteI too am my harshest critic and often think that if a friend treated me the way I treat myself, I'd stop being friends with that person. That NY Times article, which I printed and marked up the day it came out has helped me as well. You might want to look at Leo Babauta's writing on zenhabits.net. He's fantastic.
Thanks for the mention here and, much more important, it's good to "hear" your voice again.