Good Stuff in January 2023 ✨

Things that caught my eye, ear and/or heart this month

I took my gloves off to pet this lichen- and moss-covered branch. A little verdant world unto itself.

One thing my sabbatical revealed was how much daily energy I used to metabolize Internet media.

Not just consuming it…

• scrolling

• following links

• reading

• listening

• watching, etc.

…but doing something with the information I gather.

• responding to a friend’s update

• followup Googling

• putting things in my to-do list

• adding events to my calendar

• changing a habit (let’s be honest, how often does this happen?)

• buying stuff (more often mulling over buying stuff)

• texting a link, etc.

Also, the emotional energy of tracking all this info: the heaviness of knowing I’m missing news from friends, failing to reach out, forgetting to follow up, falling behind on current events, etc., and the fatigue that comes with knowing there will always be more, more than I could ever process, forever.

This doesn’t bother everyone. Some folks are natural info metabolizers and are energized by that flow. My husband, Rael, for exampl…