Hard Things

[ysabetwordsmith]

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Comments

[cmcmck]

I had to pick up a neighbour's dead Persian kitty- hit by a car- and let them known she was dead. :o(

[seleneheart]

Been putting off --> Writing a syllabus for next year. I've never not changed it every year.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It's good of you to keep updating the syllabus, though.

[drwex]

I... whoo, is too much. I'm trying to be an adult to teens who need and don't need it simultaneously. I'm dealing with a potentially crashing end to a thirty-year endeavor and keeping good emotional boundaries.

I caulked tub tile and did laundry. I cleaned up and took out trash. I get myself out of bed too early and to work on time every day (commuter rail and buses willing).

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sounds frustrating.

[redsixwing]

The water table is high. Scary high. "water is coming out of a deep tire track in my driveway, and if you jump up and down by it, it bubbles" high.

Accordingly, Star and Bestie and I dug about 200 feet of brand new ditch and swale, and a small infiltration pond, to protect the freshly transplanted trees from being flooded to death. I think one of them is going to lose a branch, but that might hopefully be the extent of the damage.

[mama_kestrel]

My sympathies. We have nick-named our front yard "Harrison Lake", that being the name of our street. That was an enormous amount of hard work you all did. Good luck keeping the damage to a minimum.

[redsixwing]

Oof. :o I hope the lake is cleared soon!

Thank you. I'll take all the luck I can get.

[technoshaman]

I... decided I can no longer just sit here and bang the keyboard like I've been doing.

Ironically, it means I'm probably going to become a teacher part-time, on the topic of internet security. And it may well mean I'm going to get a jump-start on where I want to be in ten years, in a VERY different way than what I'd intended. But for good reasons.

And ironically, all of that part ^^ will more than likely be public. If nothing else I will make a suitably edited copy available for you lot and others like you; there's no reason not to do that.

Further deponent sayeth not. Other than to say that being un-stuck is a good thing.

Oh. one more thing. Anybody have a good online program (FSVO the word) for learning French? One keeps one's options open.

Hard things

[dialecticdreamer]

I need to get in touch with my doctor, but I am having a miserable mix of problems with the phone and the service, which are different, and every time I can't get through, my stress level climbs to a point where I'm grinding my teeth. I have to try again tomorrow.

[technoshaman]

Late entry: Realising that it's not just 1933 in subjective time, it's 19*43*. Grrrrrrr.....

OTOH, I feel like Duckwitz. I have let people know, and I see them swinging into action.

I more than likely won't stop here. But no one can say I did nothing.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Honestly, for the last decade or so, the main motivation behind my activism has been justifying my right to stand in the foyer-ever-after and say, "I fucking TOLD YOU SO."

I also like to be able to tell kids, "Don't blame me. I've been telling the people in power to quit doing that since I could talk. You want to blame adults for ruining the world, bully for you, but you need to find the deciders."

In terms of actually fixing anything, I've largely shifted to looking for levers that ordinary citizens can reach, since the government doesn't give a flying fuck. It won't save the world, but it can make some small improvements.

Re: Well ...

[technoshaman]

I like Schindler's motivation better. "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." (A paraphrase of the Talmud, and a more general one, which means I like it better.)

The kids are *becoming* the deciders. What we're doing now is a holding action; basically, determining how big a mess they're going to clean up. I want for that mess to include as few human parts as possible, psyches and bodies alike.

And, yes. We're reaching for levers we can grab. Sand in the gears. Give the terrorists some of their own back.

And you watch. We will goddamn save the world. *Somebody's* world.

Pebbles have been thrown. Plonk, plonk. The avalanche has begun.

And this is completely superglued in my brain:

♫ Dusty justice on oil-streaked wings
We're not sorry and we are not things
The Furies are coming to set ourselves free
Who told you that there were only three?
Remember me ♫