Before 2016, much of my car-time involved taking a girl or two to an activity. For me relaxing in the car means talking about whatever’s on my mind. Or her mind, or whomever else’s mind. My nest is empty; no one’s in my car. But my musing doesn’t quit just because of that. So now you’re the one “Driving With Daughters!”
Morning, check. But still, the subtleties of decision within routine-! Study first, then write? Write first, then study? Read before everything else? Surely not that… except for reading the newspaper… and then whatever else fits within the waking-time. You see the slippery edges of difficulty here. [O]f all evil suggestions, the most terrible is the […]
Last night as dinner was winding down, I point-blank opened a door with My Sweetie: “Honey, I wanted to be sure you knew that you’re more than welcome to talk with me face-to-face about anything I write on my blog.” “No, I’m good; I already did,” and then we ranged far and wide for the […]
I started writing this in my head while I was asleep overnight. Since I didn’t grab the keyboard before I headed out for worship, I pondered it some more as I drove from place to place. So then I was going to write this as soon as I landed back at home, but instead I […]
Today’s been an outwardly quiet day. Inwardly quiet, too…enough that a query of, “How’s your day?” elicited mental crickets…or a blank, round-eyed stare if you prefer that image. Which makes my fit of moodiness worth some side-eye and shrugging: what’s HER deal? Can’t tell ya. Maybe it’s pushback from the universe/the Adversary on my feeling […]
An article on cognitive offloading caught my eye. “Cognitive Offloading: Help or Hindrance?” began with, “Roughly two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) have smartphones…” and I thought: cool! We’ll talk about how our pocket computers facilitate the cognitive offloading we already do! Nope. The author’s axe shows up quickly: “[A]re all these devices contributing to a […]
How does repetition turn relationships stale and lifeless[…]? What is it about repetitive acts that makes us feel that we are wasting our time? Although it is easy to dismiss our daily routines as trivial, these are not trivial questions, any more than sloth is mere laziness without spiritual consequence. Acedia & Me p186 (boldface […]
Acedia’s genius is to seize us precisely where our hope lies, to tear away at the heart of who we are, and mock that which sustains us. —Acedia & Me p44 For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as […]
“…the true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life…” — William Morris — Int'l Arts Movement (@IntlArtsMvmnt) September 27, 2016 As an 80s feminist, I have an ambivalence about house-keeping that goes beyond my lack of interest in it. It’s true, I find “house” routine […]
The cooktop of my mind has many burners. You likely figured that out a long time ago, but I wanted to point it out as I say: Ever since I started counting my steps last December, I’ve been puzzling over how, left to my own devices, I take so few in any given day. This […]
The heat’s broken a little, and I’ve started a different sort of dare — one that involves ten minutes of daily concerted movement — so I took a podcast for a stroll around the block a few times. Yes, I’m back to taking steps: good stuff. “Over the course of your creative life, what’s one […]
