writing on paper

 

Photo by Letícia Alvares

My sister gave me an agenda book during the holidays and I've been enjoying writing my daily to-do list on it. But my main agenda is on my personal calendar app. I also keep a digital organizing app called Trello that I treat like cyber sticky notes and use for myself only even though the app is meant for collaboration. 

The benefit of having a physical agenda is that I can unplug from the digital world yet still have peace of mind that I won't forget some important upcoming meeting or task. I check it at the end of the day to have an idea of what the next day will look like. I enjoy writing very much--in fact, I purchased a bunch of cheap pens from my favourite local school supplies store during the holidays. I noticed that my penmanship isn't as nice as when I was younger. That's expected considering that we run our lives through computers and smartphones. 

The digital revolution certainly improved the speed and efficiency in which humans conduct business and the mundane. There is one aspect that I don't like very much and it's that prevalent culture of immediacy, which is directly linked to a marked reduction in patience. I resolve to follow my own pace...a pace that is slower than the rest, I realized. Taking reality breaks via four seconds of inhalation followed by six seconds of exhalation at least thrice in a row. Oxygenating my body to banish any lack-of-proper-breathing-induced tension or negative thinking tendencies. Entertaining inspiring thoughts and mental pictures. 

Lent started last Valentine's day. My husband and I celebrated early during the weekend prior to February 14 with a nice dinner. Valentine's day and Ash Wednesday fell on the same day this year, that's why we decided to celebrate early. Interesting contradiction.

During this season of fasting and almsgiving, I was challenged by the following:

Daring and tough, methinks.