On a walk this week, I came within a few feet of getting hit hard by a vehicle. It was dark out, but the intersection was well lit, the vehicle was facing me turning left, and I was carrying a flashlight. I had to make a quick decision whether to run forward or run backward to avoid being hit—I chose backward. The driver didn’t stop, slow down, apologize or curse me so I don’t know if they saw me, even though I was three feet in front of their headlights.
Lately with my simpler living activities, especially writing for this blog, I feel like I’ve taken two steps forward and now one step back.
Annoying head cold symptoms that lingered for almost five weeks impacted the time I had been making for good things like writing, yoga, and walking. And after seemingly kicking my social media compulsion during a weeklong offline meditation retreat in August, I consciously and unapologetically jumped right back into that time suck.
I read a lot of edifying articles I find through social media but it is not the same for me as deliberately sitting down for an hour with a dharma book or even a detective novel. The intentionality is not there and it is too easy for me to look up from the monitor two hours later and think “oopsy-daisy, where did I go?”
But the past month hasn’t all been in reverse. I’ve made further improvements to my diet and have been cooking a lot. My purchases have been thoughtful and few (other than groceries). After reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I further purged my clothing, donating three more large bags. I’ve volunteered for Shambhala programs. I’ve maintained my daily meditation practice. My focus on tracking and saving $ for SLSR has not wavered for a second.
I haven’t had cable for over seven years, but I’ve noticed that scrolling through a social media feed is not unlike my previous habit of clicking the TV remote but never stopping to watch anything for more than a minute. Sometimes the social media feed oddly repeats itself, just like clicking through all the channels again. Do I continue to scroll on today, looking for something good?
No. If I can find time to read other people’s content, I can find time to write my own.
References and related links:
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
- SLSR: simpler living semi-retirement