A refrain I’ve been dishing to friends in the last few weeks is that I’m done getting too emotional about things I don’t control. Whether it’s work, satisfaction with my hobbies, how someone does or doesn’t react, or…the weather. The older I get, the more I recognize how draining it is on my mind and body to care about shit that doesn’t matter. While we can try and get a grip on the ebb and flow of life, sometimes there is no amount of preparedness to avoid a bird shitting on your head. It’s how you handle that bird shit episode once it happens. I know you’re smiling.
Our jobs will be hard. Raising kids and taking good photographs is hard. Life is hard enough without us making it harder. At least, that’s where I’m trying to be: building a capacity to feel good about what I can control will likely give me more peace.
I’ve been thinking about all of the minor pivots we make throughout the day to help us navigate all of this emotional shit we want to react to. Lately, I’ve been more proactive about where I shouldn’t overreact, focusing more on the things I may be missing out on if I stayed the course to obsess over a small thing that leads to big emotional feelings. Like shrinking things down to the community around me, I’m also trying to simplify my emotions. Be happy. Get sad and feel it—exercise when anxious. Ask for a hug when feeling alone. Don’t fear an outcome; create something. It’s been working, or so I think it has.
I don’t have much to say, and I know it’s been a bit of a hiatus. My personal life is going through another major milestone. I quit my current job and got a new job. Well, sort of an old job that will be a new job. Working with people is something I enjoy in life. I see memes now and then that joke about feeling completely wrecked when a work bestie leaves a job. I don’t know what the meme would be, but I’m going back to a place where the work besties still work. The corporates are calling it a boomerang, and I’m excited about it. And that’s where many of the “I don’t want to get emotional about stuff I don’t control” refrain has come from. Lots of people are emotional about the place I’m returning to. And I empathize. I was very emotional about leaving that place. But in the two years since leaving, the emotional side of making money to give my kids a great life, nurture my creativity, and visit family for vacations that stretch two, three, or even four weeks is the emotional stuff I want to focus on. The emotions built around what the corporate gigs provide are where I want to spend the energy. That’s me. It’s where I am. Maybe it doesn’t work for others, but we’re going to simplify things to a good day, it could be a better day or a happy day.
The lesson I’ve learned in these last two years is that the grass isn’t always greener. It might be softer or on different terrain, but grass is grass, everywhere. Find a cozy spot, sit down, and take beautiful photos.
Below are some photographs from recent outings around Seattle. I’m passionately documenting this city that has taken time to grow on me. But every snap adds a new layer to my appreciation for its complexity and vibrant scenes.
Happy Sunday. Leaving you with an oldie but goodie that I’ve been rocking out to lately.
The pic of the newstand dispenser box immediately took me back to living in SF in 1995.