Christmas labels
😐
I got started on the Christmas labels. I didn’t spend a lot of time on it, thanks to procrastination and preoccupation with other issues (see the next section), but I got over the hurdle of starting and gave myself a basis for the next sprint.
This week I’m returning to my Haskell learning project so I don’t forget about it, but I’ll probably alternate between these two projects until the labels are done, with maybe some detours into practical projects, such as my productivity system update.
Sustainability
😕
I gained a new awareness of the systemic crises we find ourselves in. It all started Sunday night when I couldn’t sleep. I made the mistake of scrolling through Reddit and got caught in a vortex of posts on the imminent collapse of civilization. Normally I’d just think, “Hm, nice theory,” and keep scrolling, but it seems current events had primed me enough that this time I couldn’t look away. I spent the first half of the week researching and paralyzing myself with anxiety over ecological overshoot and the climate crisis.
Wednesday night I pulled myself away from the doomsayers to listen to activists, and I was able to calm down and feel a bit more hopeful. And the next couple of days I tried to distract myself with Person of Interest while thinking about how a bunch of the scenery will probably be underwater someday.
So I suppose you could say I’ve had my climate change moment. It’s made everyday life feel uncomfortably surreal and impermanent. But hanging out in a work meeting at the end of the week reminded me of the power of socializing to make life feel more normal and manageable.
I’m continuing to explore the issues around sustainability, especially the debate on degrowth, and I’m looking for ways to track the news on these topics and ways to make myself useful. My interests wander quite a bit, so after somewhat recovering from the initial shock, I can’t even say if I’ll be thinking about this in a month. But as often happens, I feel that I’ve crossed a threshold of attention on the topic, and so even if it leaves, it’ll be coming back around. Sustainability is now in orbit.
