Journal

Quarantine Month #8

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Eight months ago today I started work from home due to the quarantine. I want and need the separation. WFH has blurred my work/life/creativity balance and it shows.

Me Time

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  • Read
  • Practice Mindfulness
  • Journal daily
  • Exercise
  • Reflect
  • Love yourself
  • love others
  • Laugh
  • Keep a small circle of friends
  • Keep learning
  • Gratitude
  • Make peace often

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Social Web vs Social Media

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I’ve been online since 1996, and have seen so many websites come and go.

Remember Geocities and chat rooms? Those were the places to be, until they weren’t. A few years later and they were shut down. Your online friends were deleted.

After those there was MySpace. People flocked to this new platform where you could decorate and share “your space” as you saw fit. Everyone posted their photos and music but a short time after that MySpace became stagnant. No one was using it anymore favoring Facebook. There was no way to communicate with your “friends” because no one had each other’s contact information, just the Myspace inbox.

Just like the platforms before it, users have been flocking towards FB, supplying all their information both directly and indirectly. People are still uploading all of their photos, videos and more there and there will come a time when this platform will be obsolete for the next big thing.

My point is do not depend on any one social media company or web service. They will come and go and you won’t have a thing to show for it because they now own your content and will delete it when their servers go cold. It’s time again to think about the long-term use of the web. Have a dedicated home for yourself so you can create, share and contact those who you choose and not an algorithm.

Build your website instead. Rather than inviting your friends and fans to a social media platform, invite them to your personal site. Encourage them to comment on your work, encourage them to provide their contact information so you don’t have to go through a social media inbox to reach them.

Your website should be the place to showcase everything you create. If you do insist on utilizing social media instead of the social web, have those free account be your backup. Have those social media accounts point back to your home on the web. You may choose to use them but you will not be depending on them.

I strongly suggest using the reliable open standards that are not owned by any company such as the internet, email and text messaging.

When using your email, make sure your default mail has a signature, one you can customize to give out your name, contact info and your website address. People want to know how to get a hold of you. Help them out.

Example:

Chris Denbow

Tulsa, OK.

hello@chrisdenbow.website

ChrisDenbow.com + PhotoDenbow.com

I know this is basic, and maybe it isn’t basic. If you’ve been spending your time on social media instead of the social web, it is possible this is something new. You’d be surprised how many people do not know these skills. It is time to retake the internet away from Big Tech and make it for personal use instead.

Down & Out

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Started to feel a scratchy throat this morning and I have been resting. No desire to publish a new journal post here today.

11/11 Check-In and Journey’s End

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On 2/2 I began my year-long journey to create lifelong habits for myself and throw in some fun intentions as well. The plan is to check in every month to monitor my progress. How did I do since my last check-in on 10/10?

Nutrition & Training

When we decided to do the Keto diet back in June it lasted until September. I made unconscious decisions to put this on hold because…well, pick an excuse. Quarantine has raised meat prices and I live in a food desert. Those keto-friendly places that are nearby charge a premium and fewer portions. Frustrating. Now that I am at the end of this year’s journey and headed into the holiday season, I will enjoy anything I want to eat. But honestly, I can’t wait to hop back on to this diet. I saw and felt the weight loss and believe in it.

Since the gym is closed, I have been doing a few home workouts sporadically and aimlessly. Again with the excuses. Again, I felt the fat loss and want to regain the muscles that have atrophied while sitting on my ass here in the home office. We have no idea when to expect the Apple Fitness software to be released but it can’t come soon enough. I hope it is inspiring.

Yoga & Meditation

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t get a good workout while practicing yoga. My body tells me every time afterward that this is right. It feels amazing to stretch your muscles and breathe. Meditating comes and goes when I think about it. My Apple Watch prompts me to focus on breathing at least twice an hour and I obey. These are the times when I focus on nothing else but that during the day.

Photography & Writing

Photography- Taking advantage of doing a few portraits has been slowly kindling that desire to go out and shoot this past month. I also traveled out of state to capture some fall foliage before it was too late but had to turn back. Missed opportunities are frustrating. Still, I am planning on traveling to the Texas/Mexico border in March 2021 and pray that the national parks quarantine will be lifted. New Mexico landscapes are planned for this trip too. Stay tuned.

Writing- On November 1, I committed to writing an article here every day as a part of the NANOWRIMO initiative. So far so good, although I did miss a day thanks to an annoying cold/cough. Novel research and development are coming along nicely, as is the character and plot development. I may even throw some micro-fiction out there too.

Journey’s End 11/11

As always, I saw some progress, saw some room for improvement, and had some frustrating setbacks. I have not completed my photo archive project and this is perhaps one of my most frustrating failures. Like everyone else in the world, this pandemic has thrown everyone off. I am grateful for my health, grateful for my career, and grateful for my family.

Happy Holidays and see you next year on 2/2/2021 for another journey.

The Roaring 20s

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After World War I and the Spanish Flu one hundred years ago, this country enjoyed a time of both cultural and economic prosperity. After those trying times of war and disease people were ready to live again, and we can look back and see this as we called it “the roaring 20s.”

After this current pandemic is over, I am optimistic that we too will enjoy a more positive time. I imagine we’ll sing, dance, play and enjoy life more after having endured decades-long wars and disease.

I cannot wait to see how we bounce back and enjoy life again.

Siddartha

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One of the best books that I have read recently is Siddartha by Hermann Hesse of how the title character pursues a spiritual quest and search for understanding.

Siddartha was young, wise and loved by everyone in his village, but he and his friend leave the village searching for answers by living a spiritual life. However, the time spent with a group of fellow truth seekers, he realizes that he will not find what he is looking for.

Not long after leaving both his village and these seekers, they come to meet the Buddha and has a brief conversation with him. But after a time, realizes that the Buddha himself offers a message of truth, but only the truth as he sees it. As long as others accept it, that is enough for Buddha, but not so for Siddartha. His companion decides to stay and learn from the Buddha, and so he travels alone.

After a time, he discovers a rich woman named Kamala who shows him the ways of love and pleasure for the first time because that was her role in her life. Siddartha learned more than he expected and wanted to offer her gifts but had no money. He then went into the city and found a shop owner who was kind enough to give him a job. He prospered at this job and made even more money than all the other shop owners.

Having tasted the benefits of spiritual wisdom, love and money he wondered what else was left? Soon, he began to gamble and drink for the first time. He would win at every game he tried and gambled even larger amounts and could soon buy the whole village. After betting, drinking and whoring he began to lose and lose big. He lost so much that he was tired of his wealth and possessions and gave them all away only to go back to Kamala and say goodbye.

The book ends when his long-lost friend returns and asks for wisdom. Siddartha replies that for every true statement there is an opposite one that is also true. That language and time lead people to stick with me belief that does not account for the full extent of truth.

To summarize the lessons learned in Siddartha;

Follow Your Path

Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment

Riches Will Not Make You Happy

Every true statement we accept, we must accept an opposite statement that can also be true.

This book offers more lessons that we can apply and I rate this as highly as I did the Alchemist or the retelling of King Solomon of Israel.

No-Shave November

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“No-Shave November is a month-long journey during which male participants forgo shaving and grooming in order to evoke conversation and raise men’s cancer awareness.”

Now I am not one to publicly support causes or movements, preferring to support or donate privately, but I do enjoy the thought of bypassing shaving for thirty days to grow my beard out for the upcoming winter months.