Lazy Ass Think Kitting
Prompt: "Take a moment to dip into the deep well of the past year's 24-hour news cycle. What world event moved you this year? What story, series, or moment fascinated you? Made you scratch your head? Brought you to the edge of tears...or past the edge of your seat? Did an outside perspective change the way you felt, or make you take action? Share the headline(s) that resonated with you."
I'm lousy at following the news. I usually have a general idea what's going on, but it's like I treat it with the same concern I do the plot of some reality housewives show I don't watch. It's happening, but it happens outside of my bubble. Why is that? Maybe I'm scared of caring too much, maybe I don't think me caring will make any kind of difference. Maybe I'm just too selfish and unworldly of a person? I'm not proud of it at all. I think it's one of my weaknesses. If I were a better person, I'd care about what's happening in the world and try to make it better. Maybe not paying much attention allows me to ignore the fact that I'm not doing anything to make the world better. Call me closed-off and self-absorbed. I won't argue.
Here's a relevant Thoreau quote for you:
"And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter, - we need never read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications?"
But he's also the guy who chose to live in the woods by himself. I can relate.
I know there were headlines that interested me, that pulled me in and plucked at my heartstrings. But none of them really stuck with me enough to pull them out now and say I was moved by them -- except maybe by the same sex marriage ban being repealed in Indiana. That gave me some hope for people. Everything else mostly makes me just feel sad and cynical.
Prompt: "Time to go through your (actual) desktop, junk drawer, or coat pockets and share an artifact from your past. A half-torn ticket stub, once-washed receipt, coffee-stained map, anything in a frame: it's all fair game. What springs to mind from your artifact? The smells, sights, and sounds? A specific feeling? Hold it in your hand, close your eyes, and go back in time to a moment."
In my brown, lightweight jacket I have a small round disc about the size of a poker chip. It's for a free bagel at some place in Bloomington, and they gave it to me when Moriya and I left the theater after hearing David Sedaris read. It makes me miss Moriya, but it also makes me think of stories, and writing, and friends, which makes me happy.
Prompt:"You don't have to stay in-between ruled lines, but we do want you to write something by hand. Sure, a letter comes to mind. But so does a recipe you discovered this year. A poem. A series of tweets that is a poem. A contract with yourself – or someone else. Whatever you get on paper – write it, then photograph & blog it. Cursive or manuscript, we promise not to grade on penmanship."
I skipped this one last night because I wanted to take a picture of my new journal, and I didn't have it in the same room. It was too much work to go into the other room to get it.
I decided as part of my new life as a writer and business owner I was going to start keeping a journal. A legit journal, where maybe all I write some days is what I did that day. Lucky me, Michael just so happened to give me two journals and some super awesome pens for Christmas, so I was able to start the journal Christmas Day. So far all my posts have been pretty boring, but it's a good habit, and it gets me writing every day. And it's even less pressure than writing on here, because I can sound as stupid as I want and not worry about anyone ever reading it.
Here's today's entry:
Super, super exciting.
Prompt: "Have no fear – no numbers needed here. Who (or what) made a difference for you this year? Were they cognizant of their effect? Did it add to your life...or detract? Was it a momentary encounter? A year-long helping hand? Someone who took a chance on you, or vice versa? What would've changed if you'd had to go without, or go it alone? Imagine the alternative scenario."
These prompts take too much reflective energy out of me. I can't do it.
There are so many people who make a difference in my life every day. My family, my friends, my coworkers. If I think about the one person who really made a difference in this last year, though, it's Michael. Sorry to be sappy and predictable. But while I have lots of people who support me, there's no way I would be able to take the steps I'm taking now without Michael. Not just because he's okay with paying the mortgage and my hefty Godiva chocolate bills while I flirt around with being my own boss, but because he genuinely, 100% wants me to do it. He knows it will be hard and it might take me a long time to be successful, but he's okay with it. He believes I can do it, more than I myself believe I can do it. When we went to our pre-marriage counseling a few years ago, the minister asked us to each answer seven questions. #2 was "What are the important things that I give to the other person?" and #5 was "My hopes for my life are..." He said (among other things), "the stability to eventually do what she really wants to do -- write." and "Help Haley accomplish her dream of being a writer."
Even with that, he still had to convince me over and over again during the last year that this was actually a feasible thing to do, and that I had it in me to make this work. And he did it, over and over again, when I doubted myself or tried to talk myself into taking the easy route, And he does it now, when I get scared or anxious. If I'm successful, it will be partly because of him. Don't get me wrong, it will be 80% because of me, because I'm going to work my butt off, but it will be 20% because he made it possible for me to do so.
Prompt: "Strike up the band – what was the soundtrack to your year? Was it the music you listened to the most? A certain song that kept reappearing, or worse...that you couldn't get away from? Or maybe it wasn't music at all – maybe a podcast, voice, performance, or significant sound played over-and-over. Whatever you heard: we're all ears!"
I've seen a bunch of people use the Spotify Year in Music thingie to do this post. I don't listen to Spotify enough to make that useful -- I tried it and it just said I listened to Lorde (Winter), Lorde (Spring), Bastille (Summer), and Bastille (Summer). I did. And I tend to listen to the same stuff over and over. But really I don't listen to a lot of music at work or at home because it distracts me too much and I can't concentrate. I do listen in the car, though -- to NPR, to Alt Nation, to the Serial podcast.
Prompt: "It's true, we like you a lot – but let's be noncommittal for now. It's okay to be unsure! What are you on the fence about? Dig into the meat of both sides. Is it a big deal? A minor quibble? Are you leaning one way...or is the extended forecast just one big gray area? Yes – we're telling you not to make up your mind!"
I'm unsure about oatmeal cookies. They're not as bad as oatmeal raisin, but are they good? I'll eat them, sure -- if there's no other cookie. Does that make them good or bad?
Prompt: "What surprised you this year? Was it a jump-out-of-your-seat shocking moment? Learning something new that really flipped your wig? A moment in time that left you speechless? A friend or stranger's actions that really blew your mind? Leave us slack-jawed and standing silent...or at least thoughtfully quiet for a few seconds!"
Lame. I don't want to answer this one. I think maybe I should stop for the night.
I'm lousy at following the news. I usually have a general idea what's going on, but it's like I treat it with the same concern I do the plot of some reality housewives show I don't watch. It's happening, but it happens outside of my bubble. Why is that? Maybe I'm scared of caring too much, maybe I don't think me caring will make any kind of difference. Maybe I'm just too selfish and unworldly of a person? I'm not proud of it at all. I think it's one of my weaknesses. If I were a better person, I'd care about what's happening in the world and try to make it better. Maybe not paying much attention allows me to ignore the fact that I'm not doing anything to make the world better. Call me closed-off and self-absorbed. I won't argue.
Here's a relevant Thoreau quote for you:
"And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter, - we need never read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications?"
But he's also the guy who chose to live in the woods by himself. I can relate.
I know there were headlines that interested me, that pulled me in and plucked at my heartstrings. But none of them really stuck with me enough to pull them out now and say I was moved by them -- except maybe by the same sex marriage ban being repealed in Indiana. That gave me some hope for people. Everything else mostly makes me just feel sad and cynical.
Prompt: "Time to go through your (actual) desktop, junk drawer, or coat pockets and share an artifact from your past. A half-torn ticket stub, once-washed receipt, coffee-stained map, anything in a frame: it's all fair game. What springs to mind from your artifact? The smells, sights, and sounds? A specific feeling? Hold it in your hand, close your eyes, and go back in time to a moment."
In my brown, lightweight jacket I have a small round disc about the size of a poker chip. It's for a free bagel at some place in Bloomington, and they gave it to me when Moriya and I left the theater after hearing David Sedaris read. It makes me miss Moriya, but it also makes me think of stories, and writing, and friends, which makes me happy.
Prompt:"You don't have to stay in-between ruled lines, but we do want you to write something by hand. Sure, a letter comes to mind. But so does a recipe you discovered this year. A poem. A series of tweets that is a poem. A contract with yourself – or someone else. Whatever you get on paper – write it, then photograph & blog it. Cursive or manuscript, we promise not to grade on penmanship."
I skipped this one last night because I wanted to take a picture of my new journal, and I didn't have it in the same room. It was too much work to go into the other room to get it.
I decided as part of my new life as a writer and business owner I was going to start keeping a journal. A legit journal, where maybe all I write some days is what I did that day. Lucky me, Michael just so happened to give me two journals and some super awesome pens for Christmas, so I was able to start the journal Christmas Day. So far all my posts have been pretty boring, but it's a good habit, and it gets me writing every day. And it's even less pressure than writing on here, because I can sound as stupid as I want and not worry about anyone ever reading it.
Here's today's entry:
Super, super exciting.
Prompt: "Have no fear – no numbers needed here. Who (or what) made a difference for you this year? Were they cognizant of their effect? Did it add to your life...or detract? Was it a momentary encounter? A year-long helping hand? Someone who took a chance on you, or vice versa? What would've changed if you'd had to go without, or go it alone? Imagine the alternative scenario."
These prompts take too much reflective energy out of me. I can't do it.
There are so many people who make a difference in my life every day. My family, my friends, my coworkers. If I think about the one person who really made a difference in this last year, though, it's Michael. Sorry to be sappy and predictable. But while I have lots of people who support me, there's no way I would be able to take the steps I'm taking now without Michael. Not just because he's okay with paying the mortgage and my hefty Godiva chocolate bills while I flirt around with being my own boss, but because he genuinely, 100% wants me to do it. He knows it will be hard and it might take me a long time to be successful, but he's okay with it. He believes I can do it, more than I myself believe I can do it. When we went to our pre-marriage counseling a few years ago, the minister asked us to each answer seven questions. #2 was "What are the important things that I give to the other person?" and #5 was "My hopes for my life are..." He said (among other things), "the stability to eventually do what she really wants to do -- write." and "Help Haley accomplish her dream of being a writer."
Even with that, he still had to convince me over and over again during the last year that this was actually a feasible thing to do, and that I had it in me to make this work. And he did it, over and over again, when I doubted myself or tried to talk myself into taking the easy route, And he does it now, when I get scared or anxious. If I'm successful, it will be partly because of him. Don't get me wrong, it will be 80% because of me, because I'm going to work my butt off, but it will be 20% because he made it possible for me to do so.
Prompt: "Strike up the band – what was the soundtrack to your year? Was it the music you listened to the most? A certain song that kept reappearing, or worse...that you couldn't get away from? Or maybe it wasn't music at all – maybe a podcast, voice, performance, or significant sound played over-and-over. Whatever you heard: we're all ears!"
I've seen a bunch of people use the Spotify Year in Music thingie to do this post. I don't listen to Spotify enough to make that useful -- I tried it and it just said I listened to Lorde (Winter), Lorde (Spring), Bastille (Summer), and Bastille (Summer). I did. And I tend to listen to the same stuff over and over. But really I don't listen to a lot of music at work or at home because it distracts me too much and I can't concentrate. I do listen in the car, though -- to NPR, to Alt Nation, to the Serial podcast.
Prompt: "It's true, we like you a lot – but let's be noncommittal for now. It's okay to be unsure! What are you on the fence about? Dig into the meat of both sides. Is it a big deal? A minor quibble? Are you leaning one way...or is the extended forecast just one big gray area? Yes – we're telling you not to make up your mind!"
I'm unsure about oatmeal cookies. They're not as bad as oatmeal raisin, but are they good? I'll eat them, sure -- if there's no other cookie. Does that make them good or bad?
Prompt: "What surprised you this year? Was it a jump-out-of-your-seat shocking moment? Learning something new that really flipped your wig? A moment in time that left you speechless? A friend or stranger's actions that really blew your mind? Leave us slack-jawed and standing silent...or at least thoughtfully quiet for a few seconds!"
Lame. I don't want to answer this one. I think maybe I should stop for the night.