I am slowly re-emerging to the land of the living. Yesterday I drove myself to my physical therapy appointment, so that was a victory. I have been able to sit in my office and work, rather than sit in my bed.
Of course, the trouble with this stage of recovery is that I’m comparing myself to what I want to do — and getting annoyed by my inability to comfortably put away the clean clothes in my clothes basket — and not comparing myself to myself one week ago (incapacitated and in excruciating pain). But as long as things keep moving in the right direction, I should recover more function in the next week.
That said, I don’t think there was anything in particular that triggered this, and so that is a slightly unsettling thought. Will my body do this to me again?? Who knows…
Anyway, life continues, as it always does. I’m picking up the pieces of being out of commission. One mystery: I dutifully wrote down the presents my 9-year-old received from friends at his birthday party on a sheet of paper so we could send thank you notes. In the course of my being in bed for several days, that piece of paper has gone missing. So…now what? On the other hand: Having a kid who can drive himself around is proving to be a logistical breakthrough. Last night, it may have happened that this child thought he didn’t have to attend an event at school, then realized it was not in fact optional, but that was not a problem for anyone else — he just drove himself over there and drove himself home after.
I had a book review published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, looking at Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss’s book Optimal. (Paywalled)
While looking something up, I came across this article I wrote in 2014 asking “Will half of people be working remotely by 2020?” It turned out that was probably true for a while in 2020, though I obviously did not foresee the reasons why…
My daughter has been on a renovation kick with her bedroom. She completely decluttered her desk (I posted a time lapse video over at Instagram, @lvanderkam). She also chose a new comforter and sheets and used command hooks to hang a gauzy canopy over her bed. She changed out a lot of the art (her own) she’d put up on the wall. I guess the new year energy starts young!
After yesterday’s Best of Both Worlds episode on mornings, our Patreon community has all been sharing their morning routines. We’re closing in on 50 comments on that thread!
The snow is melting, which is creating a misty look over everything. I have been able to get outside for a few minutes the past few days just to walk around the house and I’m hoping to be able to do that again today…
Laughing at the remote work article. If only you could tell your 2014 self how this would play out!
@Mara – always the problem with predicting the future! The crazy thing with remote work is that it made sense for so long — the tech was there in 2014 just as it was in 2020 — but it took something big to force people out of their usual routines and rules.
I liked this bit: “I believe that 50% of the workforce will be working remotely half the time,” Sutton Fell says. “I don’t think that 50% of the workforce will be working 100% remotely by 2020, or even 2030.”
Well we showed her, didn’t we?
Except none of us planned to work at home with our partners, kids, and pets, while simultaneously trying to teach our kids how to school from home! We made it, though!
@Kristen – I was just looking at photos from early 2020 the other day…it was a time! I also had a newborn, which I still marvel at some times…
I loved your review of the book and I look forward to reading it, I agree wholeheartedly that the world needs more self control and empathy and if we could all be like that wonderful bus driver that would be amazing! Glad you are on the mend.
@Mandy – thank you! Self-control and empathy would be nice, wouldn’t they?
Your book review was not behind a paywall for me. I was able to read it without any subscription.
Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett might be a good book to help people on their journey towards emotional mastery.
@Mushky – I never quite understand how the WSJ paywall functions. Glad you were able to read it!
Practical suggestion here. If the list of gifts is just lost, but you do know that every guest did bring a gift, this can be a good opportunity to learn about generic thank you notes and the gift of presence!
Dear (friend),
Thank you so much for the birthday gift and for coming to my party. It was so fun to have you there! I’m so happy we are friends. (You can even insert a sentence about a specific game they played together, etc.)
Thanks again,
A
Just an idea! I’m a stickler for sending TY notes and am of the opinion that a note that doesn’t specifically call out the present is better than nothing.
Also, the birthday boy may recall some of who gave what, so perhaps they needn’t all be generic…