Late Spring Potpourri

Some random musings and updates on this not-quite-summer day in early-ish June...

Good morning, threes of fans.

First of all, let me just say thanks to all of you who offered condolences in response to last week's post about my sweet Sirius. Your sympathies were very much appreciated. I still miss him deeply, but I'm not crying every day now, which is a step in the right direction.

Between my editing plans going awry in May and then losing Sirius so suddenly, I find myself in reset mode yet again. Since I don't have any significant progress to share, I thought I'd use this week's post to just ramble a bit... And since it's not quite summer yet, we'll call this one late spring potpourri...

Potatoes are My Love Language

I was reading something a few weeks ago that mentioned the book Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes, and as someone who was sort of red-pilled on nutrition and exercise several years ago, I decided I should read that book so I could learn more about the foundations of my thinking on nutrition.

Y'all, that freakin' book is 700 pages long.

Like, 700 dense pages.

But I read it, and the TL;DR of that book is basically the demonization of fat is wrong, refined carbs will probably make you fat, and your weight (and health) are more dependent on diet and genetics than you think.

Let me say for the record: I have tried an ultra low-carb diet ala Keto/Atkins, and I could not last on it. I never passed into that magical land of No Cravings and Everlasting Ketosis that low-carb enthusiasts claim. I have come to recognize that I need fruit in my life, and I'm a better person when I have a potato now and then.

Okay, maybe most days.

Okay, I'm basically a Hobbit.

But I also know that refined carbs have made me unhealthy in the past, and because my diet is pretty good overall these days, when I overindulge on sugars and refined carbs, my whole body reacts and it takes me about three days to recover. Basically, I'm better when I have potatoes, but not potato chips, and only a few French fries at a time.

My point in bringing this up is that I am coming to realize that balance is more important to me than ever, and I am quickly losing my interest in and taste for anything that commandeers my time and attention more than absolutely necessary.

In Search of a Golden Mean

About a million years ago at community college, I was introduced to the concept of the "golden mean." This is the Aristotelian idea of a middle way between two extremes, and I feel like maybe middle age is the right time to revisit the concept.

Certainly the idea of balance has been chewed over ad nauseum in the modern world. We talk about work-life balance all the time, especially those of us in the laptop class. We are all constantly in search of a perfectly balanced day, week, month, where we spend the proper amount of time on each of our assigned tasks. We look for relationships that operate in perfect balance, whether that means an equal distribution of chores or an ideal give-and-take in emotional energy or splitting the check right down the middle at a restaurant.

But the truth is, that sort of balance is rare and possibly unachievable. Nothing is perfectly balanced. I might spend a season devoted to caring for children or parents or domestic endeavors over work, or I might spend a season working hard to start a business and ignore all my hobbies. When a friend or family member is sick or in need, I am going to give more than 50% in the relationship for a time--possibly for a very long time.

I think Aristotle's way offers more nuance. He suggests a middle way between "excess" and "deficiency." To me, this offers a better approach to balance in the long run.

Consider that there are times when "excess" is called for--starting a business, caring for someone who is sick, diving into a critical home project. Those excesses will, by necessity, cause deficiencies in other areas.

Back when I first started recovering my health, I policed my diet and activity fairly rigidly. I needed to be highly focused and vigilant to get myself back to a place where I could maintain health. And along the way, I have erred on the side of excess, even when it might have been better to slack on the health habits in favor of something else.

Now?

Eh. I'm at a healthy weight. My labs are in good shape. If I want to have some potatoes, I'll have some damn potatoes.

And I think this philosophy is bleeding into other areas of my life. It's kind of in tandem with those things I no longer have time for--I just don't have as much mental, emotional, or physical space for extremes of excess or deficiency.

I find myself shutting out voices that favor both excess and deficiency. As I look down the road at potential changes and challenges, I am sort of shrugging and thinking that you know, maybe if I have to make a few trade-offs to manage some new things, that's okay.

Maybe midlife isn't so bad.

Or maybe my give a damn is just busted.

Mid-Year Reading Check-In

Speaking of books... I set myself a goal of reading 75 books this year, and as of right now, I'm (basically) on track to meet that goal. Right now, I'm split right down the middle on fiction reads vs. non-fiction reads, which pleases me greatly and suits my desire for a golden mean quite nicely. (Follow me on Goodreads if you're curious about what I've read so far.)

I have read a few books that I want to write reviews for. First up is The Will of the Many, by James Islington, which I am hoping to post this coming Thursday on "Just Speculating." I intend to write a review of Water Moon, by Samantha Sotto Yambao as well, and I may go back a couple of months and write one on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, just because the ideas in that one have kind of stuck with me and might need a little teasing out.

I've given up hope of finding my missing books. Either I gave a bunch of books away and forgot about it, or the box is so deeply buried that I'm just going to have to hope that my kids find it after I've shuffled off this mortal coil. Maybe it'll be a nice treat for them.

Of course, as we all know, as soon as you quit looking for something, it shows up.

I'm considering leading another read-along, but because summer is still up in the air, I haven't decided if I want to commit to that yet. As soon as we have our summer plans nailed down a bit, I'll update y'all. And if I decide to re-read something from that missing box, I'll just order another copy.

On Writing... But Not Like Stephen King...

I haven't restarted work on Soultainted yet, but I know I need to. I think between my lack of success in May and the overwhelm of my last couple of weeks, I just haven't been able to wrap my brain around what needs to be done there. And now we're trying to nail down our plans for the next few months, and things are in a bit of flux, so that makes it a little tough to focus on... well, anything.

The good news is that the document is at least open again, and an open document is a lot more likely to capture my attention, and when my attention is turned to an open document, said document is much more likely to receive the editing it needs.

We're talking baby steps here, y'all.

But that's okay.

Baby steps are better than standing still.

Anyway, that's it for the moment. Maybe next week, I'll have a stronger, more coherent post.

Maybe not.

Balance, y'all.

See you next week.