Wonderful thoughts, Ana. It's such a rollercoaster of feeling like "do I have the right to even be happy with all this going on in the World?" and asking how we can use our influence and time to improve things. I agree with you that feeling it and not becoming numb to it is the way forward, now that our access to empathize and connect with each other in real-time is here, without the interpretive media layers of past conflicts shielding (and misinforming us), we are all figuring this out as we go.
This was an absolute delight to read. It added questions to my already present contemplation of the personal lexicon during times of internal chaos and upheaval—the importance of identifying the specific words that are ours, and not the world's, and how misidentifying either one as the other can cause all sorts of problems (particularly in contexts such as those you explore here).
I'm so grateful I stumbled across your little treasure trove of a Substack, and I look forward to reading more! x
Thank you Caterina, for the thoughtful comment! I struggled with this one because I so wanted it to be short and sweet knowing the longer posts get, the fewer people actually read. But sometimes poking at things requires diving into all the nuances and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed reading it. <3
Perhaps it isn't so much about length as it is about quality and necessity (necessity in terms of serving the piece you are writing, and intuiting what is and isn't needed), though obviously I completely understand your reluctance if it's not being read. But that too, perhaps is more about the right readers, than the right number of readers.
I heard someone say recently something along the lines of "no one's ever complained that their favorite film was 3 hours", and I think that applies here. Back yourself—you're an ocean of goodness, and the depths are necessary 😉
Thank you! <3 Agree absolutely! Sometimes we make choices to increase accessibility to a wider audience and sometimes we throw that out of the window just to say exactly what we want to say, meanderings and all.
This is some very smart, insightful writing. It is "funny" (ironic, counter-intuitive, sad) that no matter how much we evolve, we somehow manage to stay the same. We're like people living in Medieval Times, or ancient times, but we just do it faster, now, and on a bigger scale. More prosperity, more death, more vaccines, more misinformation, more knowledge, more propaganda...
"Ask anyone who has experienced a tragedy; they'll tell you there is no way to prepare. Instead, catastrophizing, as I call it, squanders the one thing we all want more of in life. We simply cannot know joy without embracing vulnerability—and the way to do that is to focus on gratitude, not fear." -- Bene Brown.
Wonderful thoughts, Ana. It's such a rollercoaster of feeling like "do I have the right to even be happy with all this going on in the World?" and asking how we can use our influence and time to improve things. I agree with you that feeling it and not becoming numb to it is the way forward, now that our access to empathize and connect with each other in real-time is here, without the interpretive media layers of past conflicts shielding (and misinforming us), we are all figuring this out as we go.
Thank you so much, Van! 💯
This was an absolute delight to read. It added questions to my already present contemplation of the personal lexicon during times of internal chaos and upheaval—the importance of identifying the specific words that are ours, and not the world's, and how misidentifying either one as the other can cause all sorts of problems (particularly in contexts such as those you explore here).
I'm so grateful I stumbled across your little treasure trove of a Substack, and I look forward to reading more! x
Thank you Caterina, for the thoughtful comment! I struggled with this one because I so wanted it to be short and sweet knowing the longer posts get, the fewer people actually read. But sometimes poking at things requires diving into all the nuances and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed reading it. <3
Perhaps it isn't so much about length as it is about quality and necessity (necessity in terms of serving the piece you are writing, and intuiting what is and isn't needed), though obviously I completely understand your reluctance if it's not being read. But that too, perhaps is more about the right readers, than the right number of readers.
I heard someone say recently something along the lines of "no one's ever complained that their favorite film was 3 hours", and I think that applies here. Back yourself—you're an ocean of goodness, and the depths are necessary 😉
Thank you! <3 Agree absolutely! Sometimes we make choices to increase accessibility to a wider audience and sometimes we throw that out of the window just to say exactly what we want to say, meanderings and all.
💯. That's the beauty of Substack too—freedom to play and experiment with them.
Looking forward to seeing both from you!
This was incredible. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Thank you so much for reading, Jane!
This is some very smart, insightful writing. It is "funny" (ironic, counter-intuitive, sad) that no matter how much we evolve, we somehow manage to stay the same. We're like people living in Medieval Times, or ancient times, but we just do it faster, now, and on a bigger scale. More prosperity, more death, more vaccines, more misinformation, more knowledge, more propaganda...
Thank you so much, Tresha! Yes, I feel the same way. It really is everything all at once, isn’t it?
You had me at this title!
Here is a quote for you:
"Ask anyone who has experienced a tragedy; they'll tell you there is no way to prepare. Instead, catastrophizing, as I call it, squanders the one thing we all want more of in life. We simply cannot know joy without embracing vulnerability—and the way to do that is to focus on gratitude, not fear." -- Bene Brown.
Thanks, Corie! What a great quote. I feel like it applies to so much.