relaxation

Sunday Morning Robots

As I write this, I’m sitting at my kitchen table on a sunny, chilly Sunday morning, watching an episode of Vera and drawing.

I often find it hard to watch TV or a movie without doing something else at the same time. I don’t know if that’s an ADHD thing or just a people thing. Either way, it’s not a reflection on how interesting the show is.

And I often find it hard to get around to drawing all on its own , too. That *is* an ADHD thing, I find it challenging to start any new task that I know will require a lot of focus or that will take a long time. (And since I have a lot of trouble breaking projects into smaller tasks, it always feels like everything will take forever.)

So the TV/drawing combination works for me.

I just have to choose a show that doesn’t require full concentration and a drawing that is about process instead of about thinking up new stuff.

Hence this robot party that’s just getting started in here:

A series of brightly coloured rectangles drawn on white paper.
They aren’t robots yet but they will be soon. Image description: a photo of a drawing of a series of brightly coloured rectangles with a smaller rectangle on top of each one. They’re on a rectangular piece of white paper that’s resting on a wooden table and there is a pile of markers and pens at the top of the image.

Saturday Six for April 1, 2023

I’m going to post every day in April just to see how I like it. Expect to see a fair number of lists. 😉

Here are 6 things I enjoyed this week:

1) Being able to walk in sneakers instead of boots:

A top down view of the author’s light purple sneakers as she stands on her street.
The fact that my shadow makes it seem that I have one giant leg is cracking me up here. Image description: a top down photo of my feet (in light purple sneakers) and the bottom of my legs (in black leggings) as I stand on some salt-speckled asphalt. My shadow extends up and to the left.

2) Feeling like my projects and ideas were organized. (Thanks for working the way my brain works, Todoist!)

3) Telling stories and teaching storytelling to a group of my Mom’s friends.. (We had a GREAT time!)

4) Finishing a big section of one of my current work projects. (Hurrah for working in short sessions! Perseverance for the win!)

5) Three sunny days this week. (Temperatures above freezing! Yay!)

6) Buying paint to get started on the living room. (I’ve been trying to get around to that for AGES.)

Perspective

I was feeling a bit foolish today because I was so delighted that the light is lasting longer into the evenings.

After all, this happens every year.

BUT

Then I realized how wonderful it is that I can be delighted by this over and over again.

Image description: A snowy path with trees at the side, the winter sun is low in the sky ahead and shining toward the camera. Khalee, a light-haired dog in a green sweatshirt in the foreground is looking towards the sun.
Our path today was very well lit. Image description: A snowy path with trees at the side, the winter sun is low in the sky ahead and shining toward the camera. Khalee, a light-haired dog in a green sweatshirt in the foreground is looking towards the sun.

Not philosophical, just fun

My friends and I had an outdoor fire at our retreat tonight.

I could spend this whole post waxing philosophical about the appeal of sitting around a fire.

I could get anthropological or psychological about the needs that are met by sitting with friends around the flames.

But really, the whole point is that it was fun and relaxing to sit there chatting while the fire crackled, being grateful that things like this are possible again.

A campfire burns, enclosed by a circle of rocks and dirt.?
Image description: a campfire burns, enclosed by a circle of rocks and dirt.

Real Live Conversation

A gif of Spongebob Squarepants with the word conversation appearing over his head.
Image description: GIF of the character Spongebob from the show Spongebob Squarepants (a rectangular yellow sponge with huge eyes and skinny arms and legs who wears shorts, and a shirt and tie) moves his arms over his head and as he spreads his hands, a rainbow appears. The word ‘Conversation’ is in white at the top of the GIF.

Largely by happy accident, I ended up in a delightful and lengthy conversation with my dear friend Alex M those evening.

It was so wonderful to be able to sit unmasked (at a safe distance) and to be able to have the sort of long, rambly, connected-but-not-direct conversation that I must enjoy.

One of the weirdnesses of the pandemic is how carefully planned everything has had to be. And that has meant that more of my conversations have had to be more focused, direct, and clearly purposeful than I prefer them to be.

It was an absolutely treat to be able to reconnect and chat freely, I look forward to more of those conversations in the future.