What a Day

It’s Thanksgiving day, 2025. I got up at 5:30, fed the dog, let her out to pee in the yard. What are we doing? Caring for the physical health of my dog. Her routine so she has some stability, which seems to be increasingly important as a she gets older. Then I used the bathroom, started the coffee, laid down on the couch with a blanket and the cats. After a while I started deleting emails, noticing which ones made my heart jump a little more than others, but taking a deep breath instead of getting angry. I hadn’t had any coffee yet, still working on developing the habit of no coffee for 90 minutes in the morning, I’m unclear about the scientific rationale behind it exactly, but the general idea is that it helps me have a more regulated nervous system. So what are we doing? With email, I guess I could say the Royal We is being calmly responsible. Clearing out my emails could be part of that Ideal- Inbox Zero. Where everything is in its place and waiting for you when you are ready to deal with it. It’s an endless cycle, there will always be more emails. Inbox Zero is an ideal, a goal that a system can be built underneath to support it, with file structures, filters to send messages to strategic locations based on intent and other factors. It’s a Smart way to navigate the information overload. 

A much more efficient friend of mine uses his mail inbox kind of as his to do list. He has this ability to keep his inbox to 3-4 emails, with his underlying folders accurately housing the reference emails, and keeps up on all of his replies. He doesn’t over-think- even though he has a degree in Philosophy, he’s a work and decision-making machine, the epitome of efficiency. What is his We doing? Making decisions and taking care of responsibilities so he can put things into place to enjoy his moments of free time.

Speaking of free time, after I calmly and unattachedly deleted some emails and unsubscribed from some lists, I started scrolling on TikTok. It was kind of boring, something about a guy named Stevewilldoit offending Logan Paul on his podcast kept coming up. It was basically interpersonal conflicts and points of view that seemed a distraction from what I wanted to do. I got up from the cats, brushed my teeth, and poured my first cup of coffee. Then I gathered my keyboard, phone, pen, and the book “Smart Moves” by Carla Hannaford, PH.d, sat down on the couch, and opened an app I am using to write my blog posts “Blog Touch”. It’s got an easy to use interface with my phone, and with my Bluetooth keyboard, is an easy, mobile solution that I can use to write anywhere- on the couch, at a coffee shop, on the bus, etc. It works for me. What are We doing? Thinking, writing. Learning. Searching for wisdom and understanding. Asking questions, pondering meaning. Refining thoughts for clarity, This idea of Understanding keeps coming around to me.

When I was going through my emails, I came across a newsletter called Curious AF by David Preston. His Open Source Learning entity is a beautiful model that is a core reason I use blogs. Through his mentorship, I felt braver than I ever had before, and was definitely stretched beyond what I thought possible for me. He is on to the next level, whatever that is, by being Curious AF. I am curious af to see what he does next and cheer him on from the couch. His post mentioned discussing “the neurology of understanding” on a recent trip to Chiang Mai.

What are we doing? Typing this post. Laying down my thoughts while being flooded with memories and possibilities. I realize that my internal framework is now pretty solid in terms of my output, my mental “inbox” is close to zero, it’s time to take some deep breaths and become Open to more, as the day is just beginning. I’d like to start with a second cup of coffee and reading the Smart Moves book, but there will be other sources, I’ll just try to be Open to what is coming until something seems going in the wrong direction, and I can stop, take a deep breath, and ask “What are We doing?”.