Build Notes: Late
Hey, Build Notes always goes out on Thursdays. What’s happening here?
It’s simple - on Wednesday night, my tank was empty.
Crazy week at work. Not enough sleep. Too much time doomscrolling online. I had delayed and delayed my writing session. Then, when it came time to write and publish, I had nothing.
My fatigue usually shows up as worry. I don’t always notice that I’m tired, but I suddenly find myself worried about anything and everything. My wife reminded me during one of my other recent worrying spells that I shouldn’t go “borrowing trouble” - which is true, and not so easy to remember in the moment.
This week I borrowed enough trouble that the weight of it felt like it was flattening me.
When I was in college, my dad was working a job that involved a 75-mile (120-km) commute each way. His car needed an oil change every month. It was intense. (As a parent of college kids myself now, I recognize that my presence in college and his 75-mile commute were related to each other, more than I understood at the time.)
He didn’t have many chances in those days to write me letters. So he brought a tape recorder in the car with him, and recorded audio letters to me. Dozens of them. I kept them all, and still have them now.
At the end of every letter, Dad would remind me: It doesn’t matter if you fall down. What matters is that you get up again.
Build Notes on a Saturday is me getting up again.
If you borrowed a lot of trouble this week too, I hope you get a chance this weekend to set it down for a little while.
(By the way, a couple of solid nights of sleep have helped a lot. This coming week I’m going to practice the wisdom of Kate Bowler, historian and author: No new news after 7:00 at night. Especially not if it involves the US Supreme Court.)
Casual Chit-Chat
This past week I got to meet some new people - virtually, of course - in a couple different parts of my life. The introductions made me aware again that we kinda broke small talk this year, you know? This video captures the spirit of those awkward attempts at chatting. (4 minutes)
Time to Play
Some of you who have known me in the offline world are aware that I still love playgrounds, even at my advanced and decrepit age. My younger daughter and I once took a whole vacation just to visit the city of Amsterdam, which is home to a remarkable history of play spaces for kids mixed into the cityscape. The YouTube channel Not Just Bikes, based in Amsterdam, tells the story. (3 minutes)
And Finally…
The Central Committee of Build Notes (which is me) decided this week to turn this last section of the weekly journal into a song selection. In fact, I’ve gone ahead and published a playlist on Spotify which will collect these songs, and others inspired by this project, for you to enjoy in one place as you may wish.
This week’s song is “Hard Way Home” by Brandi Carlile, from her album Bear Creek. We had this album on heavy rotation during a family camping trip to the Florida Keys many years ago, so this song has a very strong and happy memory tied to it for me.
Be well, friends.
- Michael
Did you receive this as a forward from a friend? Build Notes is published each week on Thursdays, which are 100% the best day of the week. (Except when it’s not. But Thursdays are still the best.)
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