I hadn’t planned to take a two week break from blogging to start 2021, but here we are. It’d be nice to say it was some sort of social media cleanse – because that sounds like a rather trendy, yet smart, thing to do – but it wasn’t.
Truth is, I’ve been tired. Getting through the Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years gauntlet of work, family, and church was challenging enough. Then, we had all of five days to settle in to a new year before an attempted coup came up on the COVID Bingo card, and then it was time to eat all the carbs and be glued to the news.
So yeah, it’s been a hell of a month so far this week, my new sweaters are too snug, and I’m not sure whether it’s time to go to try a new bread recipe or start boarding up the windows. I’d multitask, except… yeah… no.
Aside from using sarcasm as my Captain America shield, I’ve been trying to find some quiet the last few days. The closest comparison for how I’ve been feeling is my experience after 9/11 – when the news was everything and I was ready to talk about nothing. So I’ve been reading and journaling more. Staying somewhat quiet on social media except to post an occasional cat photo or fist bump a friend who mic drops on some toolbag.
Alternately, I’ve also been getting some noise therapy whenever I’ve been in the car. Whether it’s listening to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or cranking up Freddie King’s “Going Down”, drowning out my own thoughts with loud guitars has been healing for me.
I’m not quite ready to talk about the Capitol or second impeachment or how people are reacting to either of those this morning. As I’m finishing up my coffee, I’ll wish you well in a world that can be alternately too noisy and too quiet.
“Man cannot do without beauty, and this is what our era pretends to want to disregard.”
Albert Camus