some self-care things i am doing

[lotesse]

-I've been using the Finch self-care pet app for about a month. Your little virtual bird pet gains energy when you accomplish self-care tasks. The app has a decent first-aid kit contained within: breathing exercises, stretches, soundscapes, reflections. And you get to put little outfits on your bird, and build it fancy houses.

-I'm going to stop keeping up with the news. We all tacked in to "staying informed" last time the Orange Menace was in power, and, if anything, it just convinced the media that he's good for business. The media space seems to me very full of gossip, fearmongering, and propaganda, and very devoid of seriousness or expertise. So, I'm not going to follow along with every twist and turn of what's to come at the federal level. I'll stay in touch with my local polity, and the greater city-state we're a part of.

-I've been following the news avidly most of my adult life. In order to fill that space in my brain, I'm going back to some old literature. I mean to work through the last Shakespeare plays I don't know well, and I think I'll read the Aeneid, which I've never done. Ancient literature is still with us because centuries' worth of humans passed it along. There's the merit of the work, and then the meaning created by that chain of transmission. If I want to study mankind, I'm going to turn in that direction for a time, instead of to the news.

-I'm putting more of my juice behind writing regularly. Maybe a poem a day? I know that when I write more, what I write gets better.

Comments

[autumnia]

I'm going to stop keeping up with the news.

This is how I stayed sane during the idiot's previous reign. I only watch my local news, get my international news via sites like The Guardian and just generally stay well away from national and politics. I encourage you to heartily use the mute button on your tv whenever those topics come up. One of my friends is taking my advice to do so as well.

I've been following the news avidly most of my adult life.

Same here! For the most part, I enjoy staying informed about what's going on in the world, especially outside of the States. So many people I know don't really keep up with what's going on, even locally. Knowledge is power and is also great for trivia (like Jeopardy). :-)

I've been filling up my copious free time with all the books I've collected for pleasure reading. It's a lot of mysteries, British police procedurals, historical mysteries and a sprinkling of non-fiction. They will continue to be my escape from the horrendous reality that will come bearing down on us in a few months.

[starlady]

I've come to the same conclusion re: the news. I'm still subscribed to the San Francisco Chronicle and I follow local news, but following the ins and outs of everything in DC will drive me around the bend.

[msilverstar]

Yeah, I'm not reading much news. For better or worse, it gets filtered through social media and that's enough.

[adore]

I'm committing to writing every day, too. The act of creation feels empowering and lifts some of the gloom of helplessness. For brain food, I'm going to do more rigorous Korean language study. I want to study the tarot more deeply, too, but it might take a while for me to feel spiritual enough to do so.

[aflatmirror]

I've never read the full Aeneid, just the skim we gave it in AP Latin, but I keep meaning to come back to it. I absolutely love Dido, especially her drama at the end of her arc as her romance with Aeneas dissolves, her raw pain and rage and betrayal (I kind of lost interest in school after Book IV when her plotline concludes 😅). I feel you on ancient literature, there's something so powerful in reading words from thousands of years ago and knowing that at all times and all places, people are human.

[amelia_petkova]

I read an assortment of Anna Akhmatova's poetry this week, which was soothing in an odd sort of way. I think I need to do a re-read of The Lysistrata sometime soon.

[lotesse]

Akhmatova is a wonderful idea for reading in these times. I'm about halfway through reading Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.

(a delight to see your name!)