On normalcy
April 21, 2020
On my walk this morning, I found myself wondering what it's going to be like when things go back to normal.
If you've ever read the book Hatchet, there is a boy in the book named Brian who is stranded alone in the wilderness with only a hatchet for survival. I read it when I was in middle school - the main plot line in the book illustrates is how difficult solo survival can be. At the very end of the book is about Brian's experience going the grocery store for the first time after he's rescued, and what it feels like when he's thrust back into a world where the food at his fingertips is endlessly plentiful.
He suddenly sees the grocery store as a fruitful oasis of fresh produce, and snacks, and meat, and all the things he could ever want — thing that he just straight up didn't have while he was stranded alone.
What it's going to be like when the world comes back together? What are going to be the things that I have back in my life that I'll have missed?
I'm looking forward to finding out what my grocery store is. I'm looking forward to having something-like-normal back, and I'm looking forward to being able to appreciate those things.
Lately I’ve been trying to center myself on that.
I’d like to encourage you to center yourself on some of those things, as well as the things that you have right now that are going well (no matter how small they might be!). Hopefully, some things in your life are working out still.
For me, at least those things are the things that keep me going right now.
There’s still great work being done
These are a few things I’ve found useful this week from far and wide
- 📉 HealthData.org has a frequently updated view of how each of the 50 states + DC are flattening the curve, as compared to hospital capacity. A remarkably well-done data visualization, but a sobering reminder of where we’re at.
- 🎨 Dracula is a color theme made for VS Code (and many other editors) which is based on great color theory, and is frequently and lovingly updated.
- 🌲 Offset.earth is a wonderful service which will let you donate a couple bucks a month to offsetting your carbon footprint by funding the planting of new trees and other Gold Standard approved projects.
I hope you have a great day.
Talk soon!
