Captivations is a monthly feature with links, stories, and news that captivated me. It’s also a monthly update/recap of what’s going on in my world.
Rollercoaster of Life
It feels like we’ve been living in a never-ending rollercoaster since March 2020. We’re constantly asking, “what else now?” while also not being surprised when another disappointment appears. The pandemic and its related effects we’ve experienced globally has amplified the everyday hurt and sadness.
Yet, this is life! It isn’t and will never be perfect. There will always be disappointments, sadness, and unfairness. It all comes in waves and you get better at recovering. The “solution” is finding habits to help yourself feel ok and doing the best you can. Here are some posts that might be helpful.
- Burnout – Why Do I Constantly Feel Behind?
- How to Fearlessly Live Through the Sadness
- Austin Dessert Delivery I’ve Ordered This Year
Heroes and Olympic Moments
Did you watch the Olympics this year? There was so much athleticism on display! It inspired me to keep working at my fitness goals. As this article dissects the Olympic moment, I recognize the many stories of overcoming struggles that become the most inspiring ones. We’re attracted to and have been conditioned to seek the drama, the “you won’t believe how I turned it around” yet the pressure to overcome can be overwhelming.
Renewed Anxiety
This NPR article about renewed anxiety summarizes how many people are feeling about the state of the world. The beginning of summer seemed so hopeful but with variants and people who choose not to get vaccinated, this *motions around* is not going away.
Social Media Brain
This Vox article is interesting and depressing. What do technology and social networks do to our brain, our attention, and our morals? Technology learns what we like so that we’ll spend more time online, so it’s creating an affirmation feed to make you feel good. The best solution is to opt out as much as you can. Take breaks and limit your time to refresh your mind.
Slowing Down
Speaking of disconnecting, I recently found the website Sloww. It’s a website/blog to help people evaluate their lives and shift to a more aligned life. There are many helpful posts, and I also thought this explanation of The Egg by Andy Weir and this happiness 101 post were insightful.
Modern Living
Ok, I’m sensing a theme of how I was drawn to this month. I bookmarked this post about living in the modern world and how to push back on the changes in the world. For example, we are a highly scheduled society to constantly improve efficiency. Sometimes that stifles creativity and increases boredom. One solution would be to change up some of your habits.
Personal development is an innate need. I’m always considering what I can be doing differently or what I can add to my life to align my values and actions. I think I’ve mentioned variations of this in my Captivations posts in the last year.
Preserved Bouquets
Four flower bouquets from 1,800 years ago were found buried at Teotihuacan near Mexico City. (Remember when I visited a few years ago?) They don’t look like much, but somehow they’ll investigate to see what kind of flowers they were. History! Science!
So Many Feelings
What do you do with your feelings? This post explores that question. The easy thing would be to ignore it, run from it, and hope it goes away. The better thing is to evaluate it, process it, and do something about it. Feelings don’t magically disappear. They’ll keep reappearing until you find a healthier way to process it. For example, one of my more frequent feelings is overwhelm, usually when I have a lot on my to-do list. I’ve learned to stop, make a list, and take the next small step to decrease that overwhelm.
5 Things I Love Lately
- Weekend river trips
- Hopped Drinks – See all the info in this post!
- People We Meet On Vacation – I recommend this book if you like romance fiction
- Stationery! I recently visited The Paper + Craft Pantry and was reminded how much I love it!
- Vitamin String Quartet – popular songs in string music form!
What’s got you captivated lately?
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