A couple of weeks ago our shape topic was triangles, and I was particularly struck by the connections people made with mountains and journeys.
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| Nature does triangles - a Trillium flower |
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| The best kind of triangular chocolate... |
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| And a triangular mountain from Glacier National Park. Both up and down would be equally hard on the knees! |
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| Some standard Celtic triune patterns |
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| And a quilt design (Triangle fade, a very similar pattern is available from Etsy and multiple other sources) |
Of these images, I feel particularly drawn to the quilt - the way that a really simple, repetitive shape is made into a thing of depth and beauty through colour choice and placement, through human thought and creativity, picks up the ideas of the repetitive rhythm of the week or the year being the basis for making a life of meaning and value and purpose.
Another theme which came up in the discussion of triangles was stability - three legged stools were mentioned, and one of the things about mountains is the depth of their roots, the sense of solidity and connection with the crust and mantle deep beneath them, the persistent patience of a mountain pushing up against gravity to reach for the sky above. So let's use that for the theme this week if anyone wants to talk about it - how can we use repetitive patterns, stable points, to help us do the important-not-urgent stuff? For some people, that might be setting aside specific times in the week or day in their diary. In previous sessions, we've talked about how associations with places, sounds, or objects like a cup of tea or a candle can help get the brain into TLQ-work-mode, so that can create a consistent point. I don't really use that with work tasks, but I use it with study and with fun-writing to the point that some music I love is permanently bound into specific associations - Bach's Kunst der Fuge = first year university physics homework, Keane's Under the Iron Sea = Open University Astronomy courses, Smoke Fairies Through Low Light and Trees and Blood Speaks = NaNoWriMo (and also the Tamuran webcomic for some reason). Let's talk about the points of stability which help us keep returning to the TLQ space - any advice on how to create or curate them, or insights on how they change with seasons of life or of the academic year?
DAISY:
FINISH grant and send to colleagues for reading NOW URGENT!!!
Do revisions for paper that just came back
Exercise at least 4 times
Do something fun with kid
DAME ELEANOR HULL:
- Either write conclusion to essay, or revise/smooth what I have
- Notes on MET book and C&C read 2 weeks ago
- Finish grading new set of grad papers
- Devise guides for in-class peer review
- Do some House/Life thing
- do yoga at least 4 times
ELIZABETH ANNE MITCHELL: (carried over)
Flu shot and COVID booster.
Finish peer review.
Pick one subsection of outline and start to flesh it out.
HEU MIHI
Recover from COVID
HUMMING42 (carried over)
1 catch up on grading (already!)
2 write 1000 words for Food chapter
3 create module structure for online class
4 catch up on emails and organizing online files
JANEB:
1) do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more - especially important to NOT GUILT about it
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one day with NO WORK.
3) prepare teaching for the following week (I thought it was doable until I found out about the practical, sigh)
4) Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot (very urgent now, sigh)
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the days on campus.
JULIE:
1. Review and score abstracts for a conference I'm on the organising committee for.
2. Keep teaching prep minimal again - challenge here is I'm teaching some new stuff next week.
3. Keep one day for research/writing.
4. Life admin.
FINISH grant and send to colleagues for reading NOW URGENT!!!
Do revisions for paper that just came back
Exercise at least 4 times
Do something fun with kid
- Either write conclusion to essay, or revise/smooth what I have
- Notes on MET book and C&C read 2 weeks ago
- Finish grading new set of grad papers
- Devise guides for in-class peer review
- Do some House/Life thing
- do yoga at least 4 times
Flu shot and COVID booster.
Finish peer review.
Pick one subsection of outline and start to flesh it out.
Recover from COVID
1 catch up on grading (already!)
2 write 1000 words for Food chapter
3 create module structure for online class
4 catch up on emails and organizing online files
1) do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more - especially important to NOT GUILT about it
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one day with NO WORK.
3) prepare teaching for the following week (I thought it was doable until I found out about the practical, sigh)
4) Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot (very urgent now, sigh)
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the days on campus.
1. Review and score abstracts for a conference I'm on the organising committee for.
2. Keep teaching prep minimal again - challenge here is I'm teaching some new stuff next week.
3. Keep one day for research/writing.
4. Life admin.
Hi everyone! Today I had no urgent teaching work to do, and I had some mild domestic plans, but ended up sleeping, re-reading a frivolity, and generally idling in bed until mid-afternoon. Whereupon I washed my hair, made some food, watched some you tube and am contemplating an early night... I realised I hadn't read anything not-work for nearly three weeks, and that I worked over 50 hours in the last week, and that I was Very Done, so. The lack of chores will be something I'll be annoyed about later, as will the lack of other stuff, but sometimes...
ReplyDeleteI talked a bit about my "stable attractors" above - I'm not really a creature of habit, rather a serial habit-haver (the squirrels in my brain looooove setting up new habits but they get bored easily - one of the reasons a form of bullet journalling is the system that has stuck the longest ever for me as a way of organising work is that there are So Many Ways to actually do it so when the twitchiness starts I change up my method or layout (and it involves stationary. A new pen or roll of washi tape can inspire me to actually use my notebook for at least a couple of weeks...)). I feel like the solid practices I had acquired in the year or two pre-COVID are all gone on the wind, and everything this year is just one mad scramble, so... here to learn!
LAST WEEK'S GOALS
1) do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more only did one due to bad reaction to COVID booster lasting from Friday to Tuesday - I taught online on the Monday, but at least I was spared the commute
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one day with NO WORK. today was NO WORK, but there were two over 9 hour days last week and I'm feeling it
3) prepare teaching for the following week (I thought it was doable until I found out about the practical, sigh) then I found ANOTHER module had a similar problem... so yes, I'm prepared... but ugh!
4) Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot (very urgent now, sigh) made some progress, did not do enough...
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the days on campus. a couple and no
COMING WEEK GOALS:
1) do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one day with NO WORK.
3) prepare teaching for the following week
4) Rewrite another two sections of draft paper
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost.
That sounds like a lovely day, and I hope it was restorative! Just keep chugging on the things you can, let go of those you can't (easier said than done, I know---meant as supportive, not nagging, I swear!).
DeleteMy bad hip keeps either locking up or doing a very brief stab of pain/wobble which is very very annoying - I'm limping around the place like a fat old weeble, grabbing onto handrails :-( But it was nice to do very little, I just get greedy and want MORE...
DeleteYou pick the best images! The chocolate probably speaks the loudest to me, if I'm honest. Mountains and their roots, well, the same could probably be said of icebergs, which leads to thoughts of the Titanic, so let's not go there, after all. Stability: just recognizing that there are seasons and rhythms is very helpful. I think I've mentioned that when I re-read old journals I realize that courses, semesters, and school years have their own rhythms. They can seem unique (this group of students, this classroom, these assignments), but in fact my reactions to the first paper, the second paper, October, end of term, end of January, spring break, etc., are fairly regular and predictable. Sometimes that's dismaying but mostly it's a comfort.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- Either write conclusion to essay, or revise/smooth what I have: started smoothing. It looks like it will take awhile.
- Notes on MET book and C&C read 2 weeks ago: NO.
- Finish grading new set of grad papers: YES.
- Devise guides for in-class peer review: NO (now urgent)
- Do some House/Life thing: YES (got deck partly put back together)
- do yoga at least 4 times: YES
New goals:
- keep smoothing the essay
- Notes on MET book and C&C read 2 weeks ago
- Grade new set of undergrad papers
- Devise guides for in-class peer review (now urgent)
- Do some House/Life/Car thing
- Have fun at Saturday dinner with friends
- do yoga at least 4 times, weights x2, walk x5
I think recognising rhythms is really helpful. I take a lot of comfort from things like autumn colours, knowing that dismal days will pass. It's also easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if things have piled up, it's somehow my fault for being disorganised, rather than recognising that some times of year are hard and no amount of planning will avoid that - marking bottlenecks, exam season, start of year teething troubles. Better to focus on surviving and know it will pass.
DeleteI like that sense that the year goes on anyway, whatever the heck we dafty over-brained monkeys are up to...
DeleteI love the flower and quilt images especially. I think I need to get better at creating some points of time in the week for the important but non-urgent stuff. I do get a day a week with no teaching scheduled at all, but it's hard to keep time in my schedule from being encroached upon by other things - teaching prep that didn't get done, or meetings that can't be scheduled other times because everyone is busy. But it's about recognising the need for a regular writing slot and putting that in the diary so it becomes fixed. There's a writing group started up here at my university on Fridays, which I will try to go to and see if that helps. I often write better in different surroundings - I find it hard to write in my department office, even though I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have to share (yet!). I can't write to music, but I often find writing by hand in a nice notebook helps with ideas and organisation of thoughts. I might try other associations e.g. candles, flowers. A tidy desk helps!
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1. Review and score abstracts for a conference I'm on the organising committee for. - YES, but took far more time than expected.
2. Keep teaching prep minimal again - challenge here is I'm teaching some new stuff next week. - YES for bits, NO for others - kept lecture prep minimal, still prepping seminars, lost a lot of time to teaching admin (emailing students, sorting out timetabling).
3. Keep one day for research/writing. - NO - depressing, but I realised by Thursday it wasn't happening.
4. Life admin. - YES - stocked up freezer, opened savings account.
This week's goals:
1. Keep on top of teaching, but try not to let it encroach other areas.
2. Keep Thursday research-only.
3. Get to writing group on Friday for at least a couple of hours before teaching.
4. Enjoy some 'me' time while kids away for half-term.
I hope your in person writing group works really well for you! I miss mine - but we're all just too damn busy now, and the "freeish" afternoon we used to have is full of meetings...
DeleteLove the trillium! They are always the earliest spring flowers in my field areas… I do like music when I’m writing or doing figures. I usually put on BBC Radio 3 online, or let streaming do its random thing for pop stuff. JaneB mentioned Kunst der Fuge, my go-to for hard thinking is Goldberg Variations, and Pink… Two very different genres, but they work! This question actually made me realize that I do use music as a cue for writing, but it was not deliberate! So today I plugged in my earbuds, put a sign on my office door and opened a series of things that I should have done a while back and finished them. Thanks for the prompt!
ReplyDeleteI need more cues to work or do long-term hobby things or planning specifically at home. Moving into my new office (which I love beyond all reason!) has thrown off my ability to work at home a bit, I need to work on that because there is actually quite a bit of evening time that I could use better.
Last week’s goals:
FINISH grant and send to colleagues for reading NOW URGENT!!! NOT DONE BUT PROGRESS
Do revisions for paper that just came back STARTED
Exercise at least 4 times NOPE
Do something fun with kid TWO FUN THINGS YAY!
Boy did all the wheels come off last week… I got nothing finished despite some decent progress on a few fronts. It was just chaos with the work being done in the house (that included an unexpected flood, their fault…). Everyone is sleeping in random places in the house and stuff is everywhere and I spent a lot of time locked in a room with the cats who totally hated all the noises and needed lots of cuddles… And also ate my power cords, jumped all over keyboards, chased papers, and generally had a grand old time! I’m officially giving up on exercise until my room gets put back together, one less thing to worry about.
This week’s goals:
FINISH grant and send to colleagues for reading NOW REALLY URGENT!!!
Do revisions for paper that just came back URGENT
making the right cues for your new home office sounds like a fun project!
DeleteFirst, my apologies for missing so many weeks. I began having difficulty and pain eating a couple of weeks ago, and had an endoscopy, which found an esophageal ulcer and several smaller peptic ulcers. The biopsy of the esophageal ulcer came back malignant a couple of days ago. So far, I do not know the treatment that lies ahead, but it’s a good bet I won’t be doing much writing in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI will read along as I can this session, and will try to comment now and again. Other than that, wish me luck! Float like mist, everyone.
Well, that's a massive bummer, Elizabeth! I am sorry to hear this, and wish you courage, fortitude, and great good luck as you face treatment. I'm sure everyone at TLQ will be thinking of you and sending good vibes. I will hold you in the light!
DeleteThank you, Dame Eleanor. I appreciate your good wishes and holding me in the light. I'm fortunate indeed to have the force of TLQ with me in this fight.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear that - sending positive vibes for strength, good outcomes, and moments of peace every day - and if there are things you want to talk about we're always here to listen
DeleteThank you, Jane, for the positivity and the peace. I may want to talk about some things, and appreciate the kind offer.
DeleteOh Elizabeth, I am so sorry to hear that. We will all send every positive thought we can, and hold you in our hearts! That is a scary path to have in front of you but you have a cheering section here and a space to vent and yell if you need to. Hang in there and do everything you can to take care of yourself during this time.
DeleteThank you, Daisy. I appreciate your positive thoughts! I think the worst part is waiting for the fight to start and not knowing what the fight will entail. I'm a tough old bird, but the inaction is enervating. At least, I will know more today.
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