This DRPout has no regrets

Yet. A Week 1 Recap

Week 1: Making Space for Beauty

I ate lunch outside on Wednesday. I had to wear long pants and a hoodie so that I didn’t get entirely eaten up by the army of mosquitoes that lives in my backyard, but I could do that because it was cooler outside. And I just watched.

We have grass and squirrels and songbirds and trees like the rest of suburbia. The sun was shining. The breeze was blowing. The ants were marching. The birds were singing to one another. And I couldn’t think anything except:

Isn’t it amazing that while we are out running here and there, pushing paper and product and people, the trees and the grass and the songbirds are just there? Doing their beautiful thing? Without a care about whether or not we are noticing them, but beautiful nonetheless. What a gift, to sit on this porch today and notice them.

That’s what I’m really grateful for this week. The amount of time I’ve spent outside (mosquitoes not withstanding). And the amount of non-resentful time I’ve spent with my family after getting the day to myself.

I voluntold myself into farming a couple days next week with my father-in-law, so I will definitely be spending more time outside which might be quite as peaceful as Wednesday’s lunch, but will still be it: being in my life with my whole body and heart.

Weekly Round Up:

(Click the links to read my daily posts.)

• Monday: Walked 10 miles through my town and made a friend during a hailstorm

• Tuesday: Tried hot yoga and reflected on how video games interact with real life

• Wednesday: Finished a quilt and started working on a full stack development project called The Friendship Database

• Thursday: Reflected on staying present with your breath after a bumpy trail run and a day of chores

• Friday: Worked some more on the Friendship DB and generally had a slow day

  Read & Listen with me:

Some links to articles and podcasts I found worth consuming this week:

• "Wealth, power, and the cult of work are prevalent and vehement. Love, strength, courage, and care are rare and weary." Sarah Mock writes about work on May Day, which I learned is an important day for the labor movement in the US

• "The first step is this: tell the truth to yourself about what you're experiencing and your limits. It will feel like coming home." Jessica Slice writes about the intersection/similarities of parenthood and disability, via Ann Friedman

• "Everyone thinks that it's 'mindless' scrolling and that it's neutral, but I realized when I scrolled I was thinking all the time: ooh, that's a cute lamp, do I need a lamp? Ooh, look at her hair, should I get a haircut? A book, a show, anything else, is different." Elise Joy Cripe on over a year after quitting Instagram and her online work, via A Beautiful Mess Podcast.

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Thanks so much for following along, friends. Let me know how your week was, let me know what you actually think I should call The Friendship Database, tell me what you think I should be doing instead, or just say hi:

And if you’re enjoying reading about my adventures, share them with a friend?

Happy Mother’s Day to my online aunties who read my tiny blog all the way to the bottom and also to my Mom who is the actual best a girl could ask for. Catch ya next week!