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

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I just came off a week feeling very stressed out by the clock. The twins were at a camp, which was about an hour away with traffic. Every day, I had to leave work to pick them up, driving an hour to get them and an hour back. This meant the first part of my day was truncated to five hours, and the second part of my day was a balancing act of trying to finish work and make dinner and take care of everything else that needs to get done in the evening.

I hated the clock.

There is a town in Norway that is trying to get rid of the concept of time in their community. The people of Sommarøy figure that they’re already living off the traditional clock since the sun doesn’t rise and set in the Arctic in the same way that it rises and sets in the rest of the world. But reading that article made me realize that I still need my clock despite feeling strangled by it.

How do you feel about time right now?

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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.

I recently read about a Danish organization––Ventilen––that is working to alleviate loneliness by connecting people.

Ventilen currently offers 21 venues in Denmark where young people looking for companionship can meet one another. There are 15 gathering places for people aged 15-25, and six KOMsammen, or “Fit for Friendship” places, which focus on food and movement for those aged 15-30. The essential services its venues offer are straightforward, and yet can be so elusive: a place to go, things to do, and people to do them with.

I don’t think it’s an actual cure for loneliness. Popular people with many friends are sometimes lonely. It’s possible to be lonely in a crowd. And while you can put yourself in spaces where connection is more likely to happen, it also sometimes doesn’t happen for another individual, even if the people not connecting with them are equally seeking emotional connection.

Every human knows through experience that people need friends. But we also know that every human also rejects some people, even though we’re all armed with that knowledge.

Anyway, it’s a step in the right direction. It’s creating a space where connection could happen in a purposeful, mindful way. And it’s doing so with sensitivity. It just sounded like a great organization, one that takes the American idea of a buddy bench a step further in usefulness.

There is a place in LA that has VR massage chairs. As in, you get in a massage chair, strap on a VR headset, and watch relaxing pictures while a machine kneads the knots out of your back. 30 minutes for $45.

At first, I was obsessed with the idea of heading to LA. Then the Wolvog pointed out that I could get a massage pad for $150, strap it to a chair, and put on his VR set and have essentially the same thing for as long as I want, no flight necessary.

Then, as I researched massage pads that strap onto chairs, I realized that I kind of wanted to skip the whole VR thing and just close my eyes and bliss out. I’m not sure why I never thought to get myself this. Is it as good as professional massage? Probably not. But is it an inexpensive way to make myself feel relaxed for 15 minutes any time I want. Well… yes.

We don’t have a lot of space, so it has to be either a pad that attaches to an existing chair or a folding chair (yes, they make foldable massage chairs!). Anyone have an experience with these?

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Giving Comfort” (Stirrup Queens) — thanks, Jess!
• “Tiny Glass Bowl of Bread” (Stirrup Queens) — thanks, Jess, again!
• “Inheritances” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Dreaming of Diapers is in the middle of an out-of-state FET, traveling from AZ to LA to transfer her final embryos. She is thinking positively because while this may be her last shot, it’s also her best shot. So go send her off with a lot of good thoughts.

Infertile Phoenix has a post with a thought-provoking opening: “Recovering from infertility without getting to raise children is a long, hard undertaking.” And I love these opening thoughts that kick off an amazing ending, “Who am I now? A changed person. Healing from the loss of motherhood.” Go read the whole thing.

Lastly, Bereaved and Blessed returns to an old post and updates a single word, subtly changing the meaning of her original thought. She also added in the perspective she gained from the year, and performed the piece in a reading series. I featured the original post last year, too, so go over and see the changes. (I love the new insights.)

The roundup to the Roundup: I want to get a massage pad. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between July 26th and August 2nd) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.

The ChickieNob recently set up her first social media account because she wanted to participate in a hashtag contest with a photo she took while we were in France. She had been circling the decision to join social media for about six months, talking herself out of it immediately after talking herself into it and agonizing over a good handle. She finally set up the account, posted the picture, and then immediately told me she didn’t enjoy having an account.

It’s an interesting situation because while we (as in, adults) all once had nascent social media accounts, we usually did so in the infancy of the site and made up decisions as we went along, often changing our mind as new information came to light about privacy and data. For instance, I didn’t think about how I wanted to use Facebook until I was years into using Facebook, which has become a mishmash of friends and work and family, and has plenty of data bells I can’t unring.

But I didn’t set up my Instagram account until a year or so ago. I’ve never posted anything on it. I use it to see pictures shared by my siblings or their kids, and I follow a few tourism organization accounts of places I’ve either been or want to go.

I love opening up Instagram. I only get maybe 6 new pictures per day, so it’s completely manageable. I’m either looking at a space I love (or think I will love) or a person I love. I feel no pressure to accept friend requests––I won’t change my mind on this one––or share images––again, it won’t happen. It’s the first place I’ve mindfully started as I mean to go, so I love it.

ChickieNob took that advice––to set her own personal rules (though be consistent) and stick to them because it’s her space to interact with as she wishes––and followed a small number of accounts of places and organizations. She likes it a little more now, though, she also knows she is under no obligation to look at the account ever again.

It’s a strong argument for waiting until you know what you want and how you want to use it. It’s something I wish I had done before diving head-first into social media without an understanding of the various directions my usage could go.

I also thought this article had good advice on how to limit usage in a way that makes sense in your life vs. following someone else’s digital detox plan since they sometimes feel punitive more than restorative.

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

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I read an interesting thought experiment recently:

Imagine that you woke up one day to discover that you were the only person left living on Earth. With no one else around, you’d be able to go and live in any house you wanted – Buckingham Palace even. But would you want to? “You would probably find somewhere that was just comfortable and practical.” The same goes for your expensive clothes, fancy cars, or the latest technology. “When you really follow that thought through, it’s amazing how much we acquire and want only to impress other people.”

It really gave me pause because when I’ve coveted houses, it has been based on location and size, but if given the chance, I would take a Hobbit-house (in a cricket-free Shire) over a palace every single time. Peek inside Buckingham Palace if the earth was empty: sure. But I wouldn’t want to live there.

What do you think?

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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.