Pushing Through
Pushing Through
It may feel like it has been a while since the last newsletter, it may feel like it has been no time at all. I think one of the weirdest things about living in a lock-down is that time plays all sorts of tricks on you. What even are days anymore? We are surely in what will probably end up being one of the weirdest situations in our life, or maybe something like this will be the new normal, it's hard to say. I don't want to dwell on that thought right now though, that's for sure.
I have been meaning to write something for the newsletter for a few weeks, but I kept putting it off. It isn't because I don't want to do it. I want to be putting them out regularly, but I just haven't known exactly what to write. Because I just want to get something out, this may be a bit more disjointed than usual, but we are going to power through and see where we end up.
I shared this meme awhile ago about my brain being either utterly obsessed with something or completely uninterested. I think this has been pushed to an extreme lately. The main difference though is when the obsessed side is quiet, I have felt very unfocused and all over the place. I think some of the unfocused-ness comes from allowing Twitter to take up large amounts of time again. I started following more people, those that seemed like great sources of info on our global pandemic, other obsessives. It creates this feedback loop that gives me even more time on Twitter, and it feeds the obsessive side of my brain. I added a few more news sources back into my RSS reader, I wanted to know everything I could. I love beautifully shown data, seeing how each different area is dealing with things, what is working and what isn't. But it all just sucks away my time.
The lack of focus for a while also lead to a sort of driftless feeling, I still haven't been able to fully figure out why I have felt this way. I mean, intellectually I understand that there are a million things that would probably have this effect on me, but for me, life isn't actually that different; I am still lucky enough to be going to work regularly (although it does feel like a ghost town at work), we didn't have the most epic social lives before this either because our kids kept us busy all the time, so that isn't terribly different. The biggest difference is just that the kids are always around. Sleep hasn't been great either, I think that probably is also coming from the lack of focus, lately, I have been reading just to fall asleep at night, usually with the Kindle still in my hand.
I'm still reading more than I should about it, but I have tapered back my intake a bit again. I have moved on to actual books on pandemics instead of the 'breaking' news of the day. While my obsession with the virus has waned some, I have started to find other obsessions to draw my attention. Some of them being less meaningful and more light-hearted things. First, I started sewing a lot and learning about that. I let the kids talk me into letting them start a YouTube channel. Then, I let myself dig deep into the rules and strategies for a nerdy board game. Most recently, I have fallen into a deep rabbit hole of learning and setting up a newnote-taking/research app (more to come on this in the very soon, don't worry).
I do worry though, that like the obsession is lessening for me, this new way of life is becoming more normal and more boring for everyone else too. People will start relaxing. They will start washing their hands less again, they will stop worrying about keeping distance in the stores, they will stop being mindful of the actions they are taking. Humans lose interest, they lack patience sometimes. The issue is, the virus doesn't. We still have a lot to learn, but on top of the economic impact, as the weather gets nicer too, people want to get back to what they were doing before, or at least the stuff they do in the spring and summer. The other problem here is that when the social distancing and sheltering in place orders are working, it will seem like it is being overblown. Doing a good job of all this will make it look like it wasn't necessary, to begin with. If we are doing our jobs, no one should even notice. I think this is a hard concept for people to grasp, and we should remind ourselves of it from time to time.
Links
I shared a bunch of pandemic based links before, and even though I just went on about being overloaded with information, I still think there is some good stuff that should be shared. I am also working on making a page that I can continue to update as I find more stuff, plus it will have some of the older stuff I shared. You can find that here. It is a work in progress but you can check it out.
- If you haven't been watching Some Good News with John Krasinski you are missing out, plus (as based on the title) it is much more of a pick-me-up.
- The latest CGP Grey video is very on point for how to deal with living in lockdown.
- A very mathy look at how social distancing and other measures change the infection rate. It is a longer video, but with great information in it.
- This New York Times article about the virus spreading out of China is just an amazing show of data visualization.
- And finally, two Bill Gates links. While he, very obviously, did NOT create COVID-19, he is actively trying to help stop it. He has a good video on how the vaccine would work, and an article on the science of fighting it.
One of the more interesting things I have noticed coming out of this is just how interconnected everyone and everything is. I think this is a topic I am going to touch on more in the future, we need to remember that great steps forward for society have come through cooperation, not hostility. The idea of the importance of communities has been on my mind a lot lately, that and lighthouses... Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well out there. I hope everyone is staying safe and doing their part. If anyone reading this needs anything, you can always reach out.
Thanks for reading,
Mike