I’ve got a pot of potato soup simmering on the stove for lunch. It smells delicious (there’s bacon in it, so how could it not?). Bacon’s good, but I don’t like cooking it. Apart from the fact that it’s messy, the heavy smell sticks around for a long time afterward and I don’t like that. I must be unique in that because everyone seems to love bacon. Anyway, the smell will fade and the rich soup will pair well with a chess game at noon.
Earlier this week, I mentioned a sense of grief that popped up for me at the Story Circle Network virtual conference. I said, “I’ve got to get into the muck and own and express those feelings—even if only through written words that no one ever reads.” My mentor, SCN sister, and the organization’s founder, Susan Wittig Albert left a comment on the Substack version of this post (have I mentioned that I publish on Substack as well as my trusty WordPress blog?) suggesting a rewording that reframed the thought.
“I’ve got to express those feelings, especially since I can do it with written words that no one ever reads.”
Thanks to her rewrite, I began to see the task not as a looming abyss of self-examination I needed to delve into but simply feelings needing to be released. It seemed empowering, rather than something to be dreaded or even feared. The paradigm shift different words provided made all the difference.
Gerry had cataract surgery this week, and I took advantage of time spent waiting to take care of this emotional business. I sat in the hospital cafeteria tapping out a couple thousand words in a letter no one will ever read on my MacBook while surreptitiously wiping an occasional tear from the corner of my eye. When I was finished, I felt like I had done the work that needed to be done and could move on.
I follow Jeannine Ouellette’s Writing in the Dark Substack and, coincidentally, she’s taking us through a four-week intensive called The Letter Reimagined that started this week. I haven’t written an actual letter in decades but, having written through the surfaced grief, feel free to write these letters that will go no farther than the cloud storage where I save my writing.
In other news, I’m on a mission to gain control of my email inbox and time spent online. To this end, I’m looking at every email with a critical eye. There are many I routinely delete without reading; the “unsubscribe” feature is being well used. I’m also taking advantage of Gmail’s ability to label and filter emails and this works perfectly for the Substacks I subscribe to. Until now, I’ve used the app instead of having posts sent to me via email. That’s fine, but I’m seeing shades of it becoming more social media-ish and I’m not interested in another social media platform. Now that I’ve got my email under control, using labels and filtering seems a good solution for now.
I’m curious. If you follow anyone on Substack, do you use the app or have them sent to your email?
So, it’s Friday and I sometimes pause to look back at simple blessings from the week with a Friday’s Fave Five list. I haven’t done one in a while and it’s about time to do one. Here goes.
- A good, long telephone conversation with my granddaughter. Our close relationship is one of the greatest gifts in my life.
- Clouds! Here in Saskatchewan, the land of living skies, we get some stellar cloud formations and this week has not disappointed.
- The weather. It was 35C / 95F on Wednesday! This, after we harvested all the tomatoes last week when the overnight temperature dipped too close to freezing for my comfort. It’s been super windy and we haven’t spent a lot of time outside enjoying it but it’s a gift, nonetheless. We all know what’s coming.
- A successful cataract surgery for Gerry. All went well for my husband and his vision is already so much better. Side bonus: the car keys are all mine for the next while. 🙂
- A son’s birthday. Every birthday challenges my senses. How in the world is it that my youngest just turned 44?
All in all, it’s been a good week here in beautiful Saskatchewan. Hope yours has been equally pleasant. Happy weekend!
My youngest just turned 31 in September. I could hardly believe it when he turned 30 last year. And my oldest turned forty this year. Time goes so fast.
How fun to have a long conversation with your granddaughter. I’m glad your husband’s cataract surgery went well.
I don’t use Substack, but I follow a couple of people there. I prefer to read blogs via Feedly. I really don’t like to get emails about new blog posts. To me, blogs and emails are two separate things. An email either feels like pressure to read it or it gets buried under other email before I get to it. I would not have subscribed to the two I follow except I could not comment without subscribing. So I get their emails, but ignore them since their posts show up on Feedly.
I use Feedly as well, Barbara. It never occurred to me that I could use it for the Substacks I follow too. I just tested, and it looks like I can so thanks for prompting me to investigate. Like you, I prefer not to have blogs come to my email so this might solve everything for me.
I am really close to one of my granddaughters and the other is close to my husband. My oldest son will be 44 on his next birthday. Good that your husband is seeing better. I will need cataract surgery to in the next few years or sooner. We are going to be in the 90’s the whole week which is not uncommon for So CA. Good that you got your emotions on paper. I just read a book called Untangle Your Emotions. Happy Sunday!
It was a hot few days wasn’t it? It’s been windy here in Southern Alberta, too and we had a real good thunder/lightening and hail storm the other evening. Saskatchewan does have some amazing skies! I’m glad Gerry’s surgery went well.