It occurred to me about two or three weeks ago that I was, perhaps, in need of a change in habits. Spurred by feelings of stress, overstimulation, and an overwhelming desire to tune out— to reclaim a firmer sense of autonomy and personal well-being during such chaotic times, a yearning for a simpler, quieter, lower [...]
Category: personal growth and spirituality
On Being a Master of None
Can you believe The Used Life celebrated her third anniversary on April 27? Neither can I.... When I started this blog three years ago, I felt instinctively (and immediately, as I recall) that the tagline, Experiments in the Art of Mastering None, captured the essence of my project. Indeed, I first conceived of The Used [...]
Superhero
This post has been formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 3/13/20 Been reflecting lately on the importance of knowing what to ignore. Placing appropriate limits on technology use, media consumption, etc. An interesting thought: I imagine highly sensitive people have less of a problem with this. For me: I want to turn it all [...]
Afternoon Tea
This post is formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 1/31/20 An afternoon with a lazy, cool attitude. Listening to Steely Dan and sipping herbal tea. Been reflecting on my journey through various stages of The Used Life and coming to view them more and more as a series of returns. That is, I began [...]
Redux
10/19/19 This post is formatted to reflect an original journal entry. An earl grey morning. Sipping coffee in bed. Lazy, cool jazz in the speakers and all around me autumn falls in silence. There is a book by my side. Lin Yutang’s The Importance of Living (a special thank you to Lynne from Head to [...]
On Being Alone
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed being alone. Maybe it’s because I was an only child. Or perhaps it’s a matter of disposition. Or both. Whenever anyone asks me if I miss having a sibling, even now, I think, What a ridiculous question! A sibling would have inevitably interrupted my much-cherished [...]
On Being a Late Bloomer
We all know those people. Those people who have the rest of us convinced the world was tailor-made to help them succeed. Who seem to flow from life phase to life phase with little difficulty. And who always seem to be moving up. Those folks who seem to have figured it all out by the [...]
On the Art of Rejuvenation
When left to my own devices, I am a simple creature. I am quiet and can (and often prefer to, when afforded the opportunity) go for a full day or more without any human contact. I like dimly lit, uncluttered, serene spaces. Small rooms give me comfort. I like to immerse myself in nature, in [...]
On the Art of Innocence
When considering what it means to experience a second naïveté, my thoughts generally center on the mechanics of seeing. That is, what it means to see with fresh eyes: to be privy to the kind of penetrating and revelatory perception that is capable of discerning the magical in the everyday. A kind of unitive, playful, [...]
On the Art of Wildness
The more I contemplate issues of purpose and meaning—and have contemplated them historically, as finding meaning was the quest that brought this blog into being—the more I seem to move definitively toward purposelessness. That is, the more I begin to understand that it’s the need for such a quest that’s the problem. And that struggling [...]
