Hello Dear Readers, I hope you had a good week.
Now that summer is in full swing, I like to go out for walks more. There are nature paths near where I live, and I like to take a mask with me just in case I come across other people, and go for a nice walk in the evenings, after the heat of the day has passed but before the sun goes over the mountains and ushers in the twilight. It's peaceful and lovely and is wonderfully different than being stuck inside my place for months on end.
Even I, as a homebody/hermit, can say that the pandemic state of mind is getting to me, now more than ever. Summer in Colorado is beautiful, and would be my usual time to take a week off of work and go to several somewheres as a series of day trips (the Midsummer Festival in Estes Park is always neat, and before it got too pricey, I would also attend the Denver Comic Con for a day). I grew up in Michigan, where the higher humidity is not conducive to staying outside when it is hot, but with the low humidity in Colorado, I learned to love an entire season outside when I usually would have stayed inside in the air conditioning.
I know things in general are not good right now, and it is stressful for everybody. Remember to take care of yourselves; drink plenty of water, sleep when you can, eat as healthily as you are able, and go for a walk and get some sunlight. Be safe, wash your hands, bring a mask with you if you are going to be around other people, and wear sunscreen.
I want all of us to both survive and live as happily as we are able through all of this. I know it might get a lot worse before it gets any better, so buckle up, Dear Readers. Know that even though we might be going through a bad place, I am there with you, and we will get through this together.
Go enjoy the sun this week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Showing posts with label be kind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label be kind. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Memory and Kindness
Hello, Dear Readers. I hope you are healthy, and that your week was a good one. For those of you in the United States, I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I spent my Monday crocheting and quietly contemplating my grandfathers and my maternal uncle, all of whom have long-since passed away, and all of whom were in the military at one point during their lives. I had talked to my Dad, a Vietnam veteran, on Saturday, during what turned out to be a hilarious "first time using video chat on a tablet" adventure for my parents. Mom thought it was perfectly fine to start the call in a dark living room with only the TV on for light, until I let her know I couldn't see her or Dad, and then once they turned on some lights, neither of them could figure out where the camera was, and none of us could stop laughing. Remembering it still makes me smile.
Memory is an important, but odd thing; it is like an intangible muscle in some aspects, that we must work with it in order to remember things consistently. We get so much information every day, every week, that it is so hard to keep up with everything and remember the most important bits. As the influence of fast information via the internet grows, our attention spans shorten and we aren't given enough time to process the information given to us. It doesn't help that 2020 is proving to be an overwhelming experience of information, whether it be from health professionals, or the news, or government entities, or viral videos of what people are doing on the other side of the world for the betterment or detriment of their fellow human beings.
Be good to yourself, and take the time to process all of this mental information. A lot can happen within every news cycle, and between juggling working from home (or looking for work from home) and keeping informed (and for some of you, also taking care of at least one kid), it can be a lot to handle. Take some time away from the screens each day so that you can process everything you've taken in, and take care of yourself; stretch, breathe, drink some water, and remember to eat.
I don't know how long this new normal may last, but we must remember to be kind to ourselves, both physically and mentally. Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Memory is an important, but odd thing; it is like an intangible muscle in some aspects, that we must work with it in order to remember things consistently. We get so much information every day, every week, that it is so hard to keep up with everything and remember the most important bits. As the influence of fast information via the internet grows, our attention spans shorten and we aren't given enough time to process the information given to us. It doesn't help that 2020 is proving to be an overwhelming experience of information, whether it be from health professionals, or the news, or government entities, or viral videos of what people are doing on the other side of the world for the betterment or detriment of their fellow human beings.
Be good to yourself, and take the time to process all of this mental information. A lot can happen within every news cycle, and between juggling working from home (or looking for work from home) and keeping informed (and for some of you, also taking care of at least one kid), it can be a lot to handle. Take some time away from the screens each day so that you can process everything you've taken in, and take care of yourself; stretch, breathe, drink some water, and remember to eat.
I don't know how long this new normal may last, but we must remember to be kind to ourselves, both physically and mentally. Have a good week, Dear Readers.
-A.M.W.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Self-Paced Personal Improvement
Hello, Dear Readers; I hope you are healthy and have had a pleasant week.
Back in April, I signed up for three continuing education courses online. Get Grants!, A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and Project Management Fundamentals. All of them were self-paced, so I could read through the each course in its entirety right off the bat, and that helped me tailor my learning experience.
I find that self-paced classes are much more in keeping with my learning style; some days I don't feel like logging in to read at all, while on other days I feel like going through three chapters of material, and still others I feel like I've studied enough to take half of the quizzes for the course all in one go.
For these online classes, you have three months from the day you sign up to finish the course. As I was still under a stay-at-home order, it seemed like a way to use the time of both unemployment and obligatory sequestering as a way to improve myself. On Sunday I took the final exams for both Get Grants! and A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and passed them both. On Monday, I took the final exam for Project Management Fundamentals and passed that as well. Three more certificates for my resume, and a nice feeling of accomplishment besides.
Since the stay-at-home order and then the safer-at-home order, I've made time to look for work, take those classes, play video games, watch an abundance of streaming video, and even started crocheting again, to both help with anxiety management and for me to do something with my hands while I'm job searching.
I'm working on a shawl that is turning out breathtakingly fugly, both due to the varigated yarn I'm using and the "haha, follow what pattern, I'll wing it as I go" attitude I've adopted, ensuring that the yarn colors don't stripe nicely together. While the color palette of orange/white/dark grey/dark blue/light blue looks great while it's in the skein, when there's giant patches of orange next to giant patches of light blue, it's actually getting to the point of "so ugly it's cute again", which was not my intention. I still fully intend to use it around the house when it is finished; the yarn is thick and soft and perfect for slightly chilly nights.
Sometimes the projects we use to improve our skills and ourselves aren't the prettiest when they're done, but they served a purpose. I'm using this shawl as a way to practice new stitches that I've been learning from YouTube tutorials, as well as practicing old stitches that I felt I was getting a bit rusty on. I'm working at my own pace, so the end date for the project is not set, but I don't feel rushed; even if I finish this project sooner rather than later, there is always more yarn and there are always some actual patterns for me to try. Pacing myself is important, because I need to know and respect my limits. Many people try to work on themselves in such a regimented way that they forget to be kind to themselves too, and that will inevitably lead to backlash.
Be good to yourselves, Dear Readers. There is enough going on outside that you may feel like you have to do certain things to get ahead, and that very well may be, but do not forget to give yourself a break too. Stay safe, wash your hands, and be kind.
-A.M.W.
Back in April, I signed up for three continuing education courses online. Get Grants!, A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and Project Management Fundamentals. All of them were self-paced, so I could read through the each course in its entirety right off the bat, and that helped me tailor my learning experience.
I find that self-paced classes are much more in keeping with my learning style; some days I don't feel like logging in to read at all, while on other days I feel like going through three chapters of material, and still others I feel like I've studied enough to take half of the quizzes for the course all in one go.
For these online classes, you have three months from the day you sign up to finish the course. As I was still under a stay-at-home order, it seemed like a way to use the time of both unemployment and obligatory sequestering as a way to improve myself. On Sunday I took the final exams for both Get Grants! and A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and passed them both. On Monday, I took the final exam for Project Management Fundamentals and passed that as well. Three more certificates for my resume, and a nice feeling of accomplishment besides.
Since the stay-at-home order and then the safer-at-home order, I've made time to look for work, take those classes, play video games, watch an abundance of streaming video, and even started crocheting again, to both help with anxiety management and for me to do something with my hands while I'm job searching.
I'm working on a shawl that is turning out breathtakingly fugly, both due to the varigated yarn I'm using and the "haha, follow what pattern, I'll wing it as I go" attitude I've adopted, ensuring that the yarn colors don't stripe nicely together. While the color palette of orange/white/dark grey/dark blue/light blue looks great while it's in the skein, when there's giant patches of orange next to giant patches of light blue, it's actually getting to the point of "so ugly it's cute again", which was not my intention. I still fully intend to use it around the house when it is finished; the yarn is thick and soft and perfect for slightly chilly nights.
Sometimes the projects we use to improve our skills and ourselves aren't the prettiest when they're done, but they served a purpose. I'm using this shawl as a way to practice new stitches that I've been learning from YouTube tutorials, as well as practicing old stitches that I felt I was getting a bit rusty on. I'm working at my own pace, so the end date for the project is not set, but I don't feel rushed; even if I finish this project sooner rather than later, there is always more yarn and there are always some actual patterns for me to try. Pacing myself is important, because I need to know and respect my limits. Many people try to work on themselves in such a regimented way that they forget to be kind to themselves too, and that will inevitably lead to backlash.
Be good to yourselves, Dear Readers. There is enough going on outside that you may feel like you have to do certain things to get ahead, and that very well may be, but do not forget to give yourself a break too. Stay safe, wash your hands, and be kind.
-A.M.W.
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