Category — Microblog Mondays

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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You know how, on The Good Place, the characters sometimes kill Janet by pressing a button, and doing so makes her come back with enhanced features? Killing Janet is usually Janet’s idea. But as they walk up to the button to press it, she is also programmed to beg them not to do it. So they walk up to the button and then have doubts because she’s crying out to them to stop. So they pause, and then she points out that she is programmed to do this, and they should ignore her. And the whole dance starts again until they finally go through with it?

That is how I feel about cutting off a streaming service. Today is our last day with one of them, and I feel like I will be better off after it’s done (more money in my pocket, more time for things I actually want to see on other services). But in this scenario, I am also the Janet screaming my head off. “Don’t close the account!”

I am going to ignore my inner Janet and close the account. I’ve done this with other streaming services, and I find that the day after I lose access, I never think about it again. But that day before, oof, my inner Janet is working overtime.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I learned a new term this week: ambient panic. Being surrounded by low-frequency panic at all times. It’s not a new term, but it kind of perfectly describes the world right now. Or always? It’s so hard to know.

I think I look at the past through rose-tinted glasses because I got through it. Whatever “it” is, it has happened, and I am on this side of it with all of the knowledge and memories and experience. Whereas the future is like an invisible steamroller. It may go by you on the street and crush someone else, or it may roll right over your body and smash you to bits. And you can’t get out of the way because you have no clue where to go because that is, of course, the issue with invisible steamrollers.

The future, on the other hand, feels do-able. Just being in this moment. Breathing. But then I tell myself that I can’t stay in the present forever. The future has to roll by.

Or does it? Can’t I just stay here, always in the present?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I learned recently about naikan, which is a self-reflection activity meant to reveal that you are “someone who has received endless, unearned kindness.” I think the unearned part is key.

You think of a person or entity (e.g., your workplace or a community) and ask yourself three questions:

1. What have I received from them?
2. What have I given to them?
3. What troubles or difficulties have I caused them?

The Wikipedia page points out why you skip the potential fourth question, which is an inverse of the third question.

It’s a very specific way of feeling gratitude in a chaotic world. It’s harder than it looks on the screen, especially when you’re trying to quiet your mind. Try it.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Crowdguesser is easier to play on a laptop than on a mobile device. Each day, you see five pictures of crowds of people, and you have to guess how many people are in the photo. Answer quickly because you’re being timed.

I find that I usually overshoot the total. I’ll guess a few extra if the group is below 50, and I can be wildly off if over 100. But I’m almost always over the actual total vs. under.

How did you do?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Oldster ran a pre-obit a few weeks ago, written by a husband for his wife. He wanted her to be able to see what would be said about her before she died. This part made me cry: “I think now of that mountain and I think of your smile, and the joy of our weird, dirty honeymoon comes back to me. I will always be happy walking with you wherever we go, however high the mountains get.”

I really love the idea of a pre-obit, much more than actual obits. Or the pre-funeral in The Fault in Our Stars rather than an actual funeral. When possible, people should know how you feel.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.