This post is formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 10/15/20 Something magical about the moments between wakefulness and sleep. A time of vivid, free-floating images, words, phrases. I get some of my best creative ideas then—just before drifting off to sleep or upon waking. Rollo May talks about this phenomenon in The Courage to [...]
Tag: psychology
Raising Butterflies
This post is formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 8/2/20 Woke up and took care of the caterpillars. How striking they are to look at. Such vibrant stripes of yellow, white, and green. It’s amazing how they’ve grown in the past four days, since I first discovered eight—now fourteen—little ones on a dill plant [...]
On Low Living
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 [...]
On Talent
I first got the idea about two months ago to write a post exploring the relationship between creativity and talent. Following an insightful and thought-provoking conversation with Nitin from There Will Come Soft Rains, I sensed I was close to forming a definitive opinion on the subject, one that, falling line in with more traditional [...]
Promenade
This post was formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 5/10/20 A slow, easy, reflective Sunday. Yoga and some much-needed outdoor time. I can’t wait to go camping. Soon. Have this grand idea of going off the grid for a little while. Heading up into the mountains and losing myself in the stillness. A reclamation of [...]
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 [...]
On Fantasy
I’ve always been a daydreamer. In school, I was a quiet, bookish girl who spent much of her time staring out the window, doodling, or scribbling fragments of poems and short stories in a secret notebook. (How many other young writers kept secret notebooks—the ones you covertly slipped into your real notebook, so you could [...]
On Pleasure
The idea for this post presented itself to me this morning over coffee, as I was, appropriately, shopping online for products to add to my new skincare regimen and envisioning myself spending the afternoon getting my hair done and then pampering myself at my local L’Occitane boutique. It’s been a long time since I’ve published [...]
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 [...]
