Seth Godin writes about the difference between doom and gloom. I think this is the start, but not the end, of the way forward. Experiencing sadness, anger, and fear are normal and should be experienced in a balanced life. The low hum of general cynicism, however, can be permanently deafening. Like a pit that becomes harder and harder to crawl out of, the deeper we go. I’ve heard before that the world will eventually heal; once humans have gone extinct, the planet will heal herself and repair all of the ways in which we have damaged her.

+++ title = “09” date = 2018 +++ It occurrs to me, after the birth of my son two weeks ago, that he did not come with an instruction manual. An instruction manual has always been an integral part in the learning process for anything I interact with. Written instructions on the set up, the maintenance, the care, the features… are usually covered in some kind of booklet. My son came with no such booklet.

+++ title = “06” date = 2018 +++ A message you’ll see a lot in social media is “you are loved.” But a blanket statement to a thousand friends looks nice on the surface and is relatively useless under the hood. What matters is not what cover photo you have on your Facebook or Instagram. What matters is curiosity about those things that exist outside of yourself. I have this friend that I used to quietly observe while she had conversations with people.

+++ title = “06” date = 2018 +++ I’m sensitive to sound. It’s always been this way. Vacuums, sirens, people talking during movies, loud noises coming from rooms/houses nearby late at night… all irritate my brain in ways that can’t be easily described. When I was an RA in college, the majority of my reports were noise violations. I’m sensitive to it. But that sensitivity runs both ways. The sound of vegetables sizzling in oil in a frying pan brings me intense amounts of joy.

+++ title = “06” date = 2018 +++ Some of my cousins live far away, so when it was the first time we’d seen each other in a while, there was always a bit of awkwardness. A moment or two of shyness, of hiding behind our parents legs… and then we’d participate in some activity that was really more like parallel play, and after that… pure bliss, as we discovered that, despite being a few years older than the last time, we were pretty much the same and could pick up exactly where we left off.