Hi,
According to Elmore Leonard and his Ten Rules of Writing, number one is “Never open a book with weather.” This is great advice and as I’ve started this week’s blog post by referencing Mr Leonard’s sage wisdom, I can now talk about the snow 😉
Chamsellation
A bit of a – thankfully rare! – occurrence, in that we had to cancel the first Chams’ meeting of the year. I had kept an eye on the weather and pretty much not thought much about it. I mean, it’s not often we have a bad winter in the East Midlands …
[ Weather gods, please do not take this as a provocation! 🙏]
… so I was somewhat surprised to see an amber alert on my phone, and then the next one along a bit later. After a chat with Val, my fellow organiser, we decided to err on the side of caution. TBH, I felt that most folk would probably be okay getting to the venue… but the getting back would be somewhat risky.
Rather than put folk at risk, I gave the Centre a call, and the lovely staff confirmed that we could move our meeting to next week. Yay!
So, snow travel avoided, no loss of meeting, and no cost to jiggle the timetable. I’ll take that lot as a win. Hopefully folk won’t be too put out by the change of plans.
Hmm….. Maybe I should’ve made the section head a pun on delayed, but hey ho 🙂
Split brain
Without wanting to reference what’s going on the world directly, I’ll say that I’ve been trying to lean into some of the stoicism I’ve been reading about. This one seems quite relevant in these troubling times:
External things are not in my power, my will is my own. Where am I to seek what is good and what is evil? Within me.
Epictetus
Now, I am somewhat torn on this. Not to play the classic media binary game – says the blogger who is just about to do that right now 🙃 – buuuuut 😁 On the one hand, I can completely agree that there’s a lot going on in the world that is completely out of my influence. To reference a modern managerial model that I hacked, this image from a much earlier post:
I could rattle though modern events and give a take on where they might be on the above image. However, I come here to…. uhh, not always talk about what’s going on. Sometimes I come here to write and share to take my mind off things, to remind myself that there are good things & people on this third rock from the sun. Maybe, just maybe, folk are turning up here looking for some of the same.
What troubles me around Epictetus’ wisdom, is that I have a nagging sense of I’m alright, Jack(ie). That the wolves are not at my door, that there are still people to speak for me, etc. A small part of me feels – ah yes, feelings – that some things are morally and/or ethically wrong. Yet, I also know my influence in limited, which brings us back to the start of the quote; external things are not in my power 😉
So, what to do? Perhaps it is time to acknowledge a phrase a friend once pointed me to by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Now, I’m not going to say I’m a first rate intelligence, maybe a little smarter than the average bear (Mr Ranger, sir) 😉; but jokes & references aside, perhaps the current best course of action, is to acknowledge the discomfort; to not be okay with things and yet, equally, to not tear myself up with the worries of the world.
So while this isn’t a sunshine & cute puppers posiblogging post, I think there’s still good things to be found: that the wee community I’m part of is still ticking over; that we can look out for each other; and we can attempt to influence things for the better. All those and we can – and do – welcome new folk, so maybe that’s the best I can hope for, with how things are.
Oh, and let’s have an image about eye make-up, ‘cos I found it while looking through the YATGB image bank 😉
How fab does the MUA’s eyes look? Possibly something I might struggle with having hooded eyes, but I think there’s always something to be learned and tweaked to work for you.
Stay fabulous,
L ❤️
I think you only need to look at the real world (or the news) for more than 2 seconds to disprove Mr Fitzgerald’s thesis. Yes, these people still function, but first rate?!
(Margo voice from The Good Life): Well, one doesn’t wish to judge… 😁
I do think folk are currently being misled via -ahem- certain exploitive bad actors. that there’s a simple fix for complex problems. That is not helping, IMO. Neither with solving the issue(s) or addressing the concern(s). It’s just noise to get on the airwaves 🙄
I do wonder if regular reading of critical thinking examples and the Law of Unintended Consequences might help us 😉
I enjoyed the post! Thank you.
Is that enough of a standard response in a comment section? I dunno. Point is, yes, stoicism is all well and good as a fundamental start point but, like you say, cannot be everything. Something something Hannah Arendt. Sad Chams was cancelled, but Thursday night went into Friday morning and I caught that and it was not pretty. 😬
Glad you are well and flexing those philosophical muscles! I need to get some yet.
Enjoyment is perfectly acceptable, I think 🙂 On that note, I am finding the light reading around the subject, the same too.
Sorry to hear you were caught up in the weather news. Hopefully it went as well as it could.
Lynn, I really enjoyed this post! I love the way you balance the small, everyday moments, like navigating snow travel, with deeper reflections on the world and our place in it. Your thoughts on Epictetus and Fitzgerald really resonated: it’s such a tricky balance, noticing what’s wrong and wanting to act, while also accepting the limits of our influence.
I also appreciated the reminder that even amid uncertainties, the little communities we’re part of, the people we look out for, and the small joys around us, like discovering a new makeup tip!—still matter. It’s a gentle, grounding perspective that’s easy to carry forward into the day.
Thanks for sharing your reflections and reminders of what’s meaningful and worth noticing.
Lotte x
PS Thanks for the eye makeup image, great little tutorial. I have to agree too, the MUA does have fab eyes!
Thanks Lotte. A slight confession on the quotes. I’ve had some (kind & polite) feedback, that said lines are not as accurate as I’ve written. It seems the Internet has done the usual thing, of revving up what’s close enough but it’s 100% accurate. So, like a lot of stuff on-line – some fact checking of your own may be required! 🙂
That aside, I hope the feel of the piece and what we can do to keep ourselves sane, still stands true.