002 – Emptying to Refill
14-Nov-2021
First Things First
I spoke to my coach about feeling overwhelmed, and he said: first things first.
What’s the most important thing on your plate? What’s most urgent? The Eisenhower metric is a reliable too because often times the urgent things feel most important, and the important things feel most urgent.
Of my laundry list of six big projects in my life, he narrowed it down to two:
- Finish up the last elements of my job
- Get my health in order.
…not necessarily in my order. I was losing sleep, feeling unhealthy, and losing energy.
But first things first. Before I started my new life, I had to close off my old life. And I also needed energy and focus to be able to execute items well.
There were things I wanted to achieve, longer-term goals and aspirations, but my coach was right: first things first.
Emptying to Refill
One of the things I wanted to do was to throw away a lot of old stuff. Books I never read and would never read again, old stationery, trash, keepsakes I no longer want to keep.
I have two boxes full of thank-you notes. Those are treasures. I’ve got some from 2005, even, all the way up to this year’s improv class. I put them away in a box that’ll stand the test of time, and when I go through my next breakdown or low point I’ll take out those notes and remember them.
(There were also a few mementoes from relationships, dalliances and dates. It felt equally important to keep them too. I haven’t been too close with too many people, but it’s a sweet reminder that I got affection from people, people were smitten with me — and they could be smitten again.
It’s also a reminder that many of them are lovely people, and they thought I was worth hanging out with).
There’s empty space in my cupboard right now. I managed to throw away about half of the stuff; I can actually see shelf space and the back wall of the cupboard. It feels a little odd to have empty space, but I guess that’s the point of cleaning up — you want to empty the cup so you can refill it with different things.
To new artefacts, possessions, and thank you notes. To new adventures.
People I Want to Spend Time With
I made some plans with people. (Hiya Lesley!)
It never felt like I had the time or the energy to water this aspect of my life; it always felt like I should be pouring more energy into my career; getting a raise, or finding a better job.
Now I feel like I have a little more space to breathe and do human relationship things.
There are more people I should make plans with:
- My Latecomers family
- The (new) crew of the Improv advanced class, and Martyna/Steve/Niharka in particular
- I had a lovely chat with Gwen and it’s time to talk to Isaac too.
Hopefully by 005 I’ve got something to report about.
Quick Thoughts
- People keep mentioning BJJ around me. That’s probably a sign, and something to explore in December?
- I resisted the urge to just buy buy buy new clothes. I will once I figure out what the corporate uniform is.
- I absolutely spent $$$ on headphones and earphones. I don’t think I can survive without podcasts, although with that said, I am using speakers to avoid long-term earphone damage.
Recommendations & Reads
I really like the We Might Be Drunk podcast. Aside from enjoying the work of these two comedians, there are moments where they talk about the craft. They work through some half-formed bits, and it’s wonderful to see them figure out how to angle a joke, find the punchline, or even tweak the phrasing to find the funny.
It reminds me of the joy of listening to Downloadable Content, the Penny Arcade podcast. I listened to those on loop and repeat, watching two creators create funny comic strips, thinking about angles and punchlines and beats. It reminds me of the joy of watching Every Frame a Painting.
Or, maybe, I just love commentary. I can’t just see something, I love hearing people talk me through it. Tell me your secrets, give me your magic bullets, show me the inner workings of the inside of your brain.
Let me in…