seeing/reading/mulling/listening
A roundup nobody asked for
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. A time management book that rests entirely on the premise that time is limited and we cannot possibly do everything we want-no amount of hacks or optimizing will change that universal truth. Burkeman’s candidness is equally terrifying as it is freeing. I haven’t finished the book yet to know if Burkeman offers advice on how to grapple with that dichotomy. I have had to read this book in chunks- so I can sit with its wisdom and let it percolate through me and try to find small ways to practice what I learn and be in awe of the fact that I have a life to live, and time to contemplate time itself. Something that I’ve been sitting with is a phrase from the British Sculptor Marion Coutts’ memoir The Iceberg that Burkeman offers. She writes of finding out about her husband’s brain tumor: “We learn Something. We are mortal. You might say you know this but you don’t…..You will lose everything that catches your eye.”
Snuggles with a cloud with eyes, ears, and a nose on a trip to visit my best friend, Erica and her wife Azul. Meant to deter sheep-stealing wolves but instead has 10 stuff toys, rips up pine cones and takes many naps. I was also told I could be her godmother but have yet to see this in a will.
The playlist Cafe Africa on Spotify Especially great when it’s raining. I listen to a lot of West African music and it touches me in a way not all music has, even though I do not understand a single word.
Getting stuck in the rain on a walk.
I’ve noticed in the last few weeks most people I know have been giving very honest answers when asked, “How are you.” When I moved to Raleigh, NC, USA for college in 2009 something that really surprised me was how frequently people (strangers) asked “Hi, how are you?” as a greeting and 99% of the time I responded they were already walking away or asking the same question to someone else or just not listening. I never responded with a “Fine, thanks, how are you?” usually because I was never fast enough, genuinely didn’t have the capacity or desire to know, or was hit by having to think about how I was really doing. I was conscious of whether people thought I was rude because I did not reciprocate with the same question, but could hide under the guise of it being some sort of cultural difference. Which I suppose was not a disguise at all, really. In India, either no one asks you how you are, or you talk to someone for 30 minutes about their niece’s neighbor’s wedding. In New York, it’s asked far less in informal interactions with strangers, mostly just a “hi” or a less intense, “how’s your day going” which doesn’t always stop me in my tracks with contemplation. The last few weeks however, I’ve noticed people answering with brutal honesty- “I’ve been better”, “honestly things have been really great”, “how much time do you have…”, “I feel inspired and excited,” “meh” It’s refreshingly human and honest and I love it! Tell me how you are!