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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I wrote a few days ago about a Marcus Aurelius stoicism quote about choosing not to be sad if something is distressing you, and I still stand by the lack of worth in the words once he mentioned that this idea is applicable to anything and everything.

But I also found an old Modern Mrs. Darcy post on the same idea, only applied to the small stuff.  She mentions a friend whose husband was in a frustrating situation, and she said, “Eh, that’s life, she said. You can’t freak out about stuff like this. And she went on to explain that mix-ups like this happened to everyone at some time or another, and that’s just the way it is, and you have to decide to not get upset about it when it’s your turn.”

Your turn.  Like if you think of it like jury duty, this is just your turn.  Nothing you can do about it, so you might as well accept it and move on.  I am terrible at this — the idea of just rolling with things — but this is an idea I can get behind while I reject Marcus Aurelius.

What do you think?  Do you think people can actually choose calm when they’re frustrated?

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

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

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If I really love a show, I’ll go and see it multiple times.  I know there are people who love theater because of its fleeting nature, but I am someone who likes to re-read books and re-watch movies.  The idea that something exists only for a short period of time and then disappears forever makes me anxious.

I combat that feeling by seeing the same play multiple times.  I recently did that with a play I liked — Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights — and I meant to see a third time before it was gone forever.  (Yes, I know they’re making it into a film, and there may be other productions in the future, but this particular one will be gone forever.)  But it’s totally sold out, and I have a busy week.  So no extra show for me.  It makes me really sad to think that once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Do you like fleeting things like theater or do you prefer more permanent mediums like movies?

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

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

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Linus has a new irritating habit.  I line the bottom of his cage with newspaper and then cover the newspaper with his bedding.  It makes clean up a little easier.

A few days ago, he realized the newspaper was underneath and he started pushing the bedding aside with his nose and then tearing off long strips of paper and depositing them on the floor outside his cage.  If I tell him to stop, he gives me a look as if to say, “What?  You don’t like that?  The tearing noise or the mess on the carpet?  Which one?”

He really is my puppy.  He whines if I go to pick up the kids without him.  When we get to the school, he pops up at attention, eagerly waiting for them.

He’s lucky he’s cute.

Tell me about your cute pet.

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

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.  It was presented as 2018’s “hygge,” though once I Googled it, I saw that it was also 2017’s “hygge.”  That feels like a lot of work for a single word.

Lagom is Swedish, and (based on what I’m reading) it roughly translates as “just enough.”  The Guardian summarizes the sentiment and compares it to hygge:

Both imply a distaste for extravagance and flashiness, but hygge is active in a way that lagom is not. Hygge is about doing that little bit extra to create a special atmosphere. Lagom, although always positive, is almost the opposite. It’s about not doing what is unnecessary or superfluous, focusing on what is absolutely essential, knowing when to stop.

Which sounds pretty damn good to me.  There are times when fussy is totally worth it; go all out and enjoy the final product.  But too many times we feel like we should strive for fussy when we know that pared down is more our style.  (Or, more attainable.  Can you tell that I don’t lead a very Instagrammable life?)

And yet when it comes to personality, I’m not sure it would work for me.  As much as I am austere when it comes to tangible things, I feel pretty passionate about ideas.  The author continues:

Being lagom also means being moderate in personality, views, and politics. When Swedish children are told skratta lagom, or teenagers are told to have lagom kul, it doesn’t mean “have a bit of a laugh”, or “have a bit of fun”, it means “don’t laugh too much”, or “don’t go over the top”.

You can’t take a word out of a culture.  Or you can try, but it will forever be like wearing someone else’s shoes; they may be your size, but they’re molded to someone else’s feet.

What do you think about the idea of lagom?

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

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

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Kelly Wickham Hurst recently said something that stuck with me: “People are magic.” She was talking about that human impulse to insert yourself into someone else’s life, somehow at the right time, and help. But, of course, it could go the other way, too. Magic is often used to trick the senses, misdirect your attention.

That is the thought that came to mind as I read this story about the start of the BRCA1 research. It is incredible that this project, which had an inauspicious start, led to knowledge that has potentially saved life. It’s not a long piece, but it is the best example of people are magic — both in the good and bad sense — in a single story.

Read it, but don’t ruin the twist for anyone else in your comment.

And tell us about a moment of magic that someone brought into your life.

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.