I’ve been at Whole Foods for the last hour hoping to write something meaningful, but all I’ve done is write, delete, write, delete, write, and delete. Nothing’s felt true or interesting or compelling. I’d given up, went to get more to eat instead, but then an email notification from the New Yorker magazine came in with a list of articles for me to read. I don’t subscribe to the New Yorker anymore. I gave it up a few years ago when I realized I didn’t relate to or find the time for most of the articles they publish. Besides, somebody in my neighborhood deposits their old New Yorkers in the Little Free Library Brent built for me that’s just outside our front door. I can read articles later if I’m patient. I always read their notifications, though, and tell myself that reading the headlines gives me the gist of what the best writers in the country are thinking about.
Today’s list felt familiar to me, as though the writers were reading my mind. Reviewing it made me feel better about my own holiday-season lost-ness. Surely if the New Yorker’s writers were writing about these things, a lot of people are feeling the same way.
Here’s the list:
1. Can Brain Science Help Us Break Bad Habits? (Well, the answer must be yes, or they wouldn’t be printing this article). The subtext reads: “Studies suggest that relying on will power is hopeless. We must find strategies that don’t require us to be strong.” I learned this after Forrest died, but I often forget now: I started doing yoga the week before he died and haven’t stopped since. Back then it was the quiet and the communion with him that I needed, not the exercise. Discipline was irrelevant. The reason to do yoga was stronger than the reason not to do it.
2. Exercise is Good for You. The Exercise Industry May Not Be. No surprise there. The subtext reads: “Amid the marketing of unattainable physical ideals, it’s easy to forget what made fitness fun.” No kidding! Running across neighbors’ yards during hide and seek, climbing trees, and making circles for dodgeball when I was a kid was much more fun than curls and weights, although now, with a recent osteoporosis diagnosis, I’m learning the importance of weight-bearing exercise. The notion of physical ideals is history for me now. What a relief (but also a source of worry).
3. Improving Ourselves to Death. “What the Self-Help gurus and their critics reveal about our times.” Sometimes I think attempting to improve myself is just too tiring. What I really want to do is to be who I am, (whatever that is), warts and all.
4. Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Change Our Minds. “The Theory behind C.B.T. rests on an unlikely idea – that we can be rational after all. I wonder…
5. It’s Time to Embrace Slow Productivity. “We need fewer things to work on. Starting now.” This is the sentence that spoke most directly to me as I wrestled with guilt about being late with my weekly post. Ironic. But I’m glad to get it done. I miss you when I don’t write.
Happy New Year.
Bar
Oh, Bar!! Talk about resonating!! I have the old “organize, toss and eat right and exercise”. So this “make it fun” wisdom is key! Right now it’s cardio rehab, and THAT is BORING!!! 3 months and then it’ll be fun!!!!
inneresting post / recently i was thinking maybe i should subscribe to the new yorker so i could see what people were writing about and here you gave me the whole list / they all ring true to me / yes and yes and yes to all / i also wrestle with guilt if my weekly post is late but i realize it's a self-imposed deadline / possibly in honor of my father who wrote his sermon every week to deliver on sunday morning / i didn't become a minister of the faith but i did became a wild eyed poet keen to rave on about everything that needs raving on