Category: Life

Life Keeps Moving

Just 16 days ago everything was sort of normal. I was scheduled to head into NYC to meet with a client, on Wednesday March 11th. The night before we made the call to cancel, since this whole “corona virus thing” was starting to grumble.

That night I was fired up Sling to watch some NBA games when they got cancelled for some unknown reason. I stayed up past midnight that night, watching everyone ESPN talk about the situation. The NBA suspended the season. What the heck is going on?

On that day, March 11th, my state of PA had just 16 confirmed cases of the corona virus. By the 18th, it was 133. Seven days later it was 1,127.

Tonight, 16 days later, we’re at 2,218 cases.

Sixteen days to go from 16 to 2,218. And that’s just what we know out of who has been tested. The real number is probably bigger, which is how it’s spreading so fast.

Today also the marks the last day of #quarantine5x5K. A few of us on Instagram got out every day this week to run at least 3.1 miles. Some chilly days, some rainy, and then today, Friday, the last day, it was in the 60s.

Like running up a hill, you know the pain will stop. You can see the point at which your muscles will stop screaming, and your heart beat will return to normal.

Like a 5K race… you go, you run, you go fast, your heart is screaming but you know, hey, it’s just three miles. Two more. Okay, one more, we can do this.

This pandemic? No idea when it’ll end, but it will. There’s gonna be pain and grieving and anger, but we’ll get to the finish line eventually.

This if Grief

Been hard to put my finger on the current feeling, but yeah… this sounds about right, from ‘That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief.’

To calm yourself, you want to come into the present. This will be familiar advice to anyone who has meditated or practiced mindfulness but people are always surprised at how prosaic this can be. You can name five things in the room. There’s a computer, a chair, a picture of the dog, an old rug, and a coffee mug. It’s that simple. Breathe. Realize that in the present moment, nothing you’ve anticipated has happened. In this moment, you’re okay. You have food. You are not sick. Use your senses and think about what they feel. The desk is hard. The blanket is soft. I can feel the breath coming into my nose. This really will work to dampen some of that pain.

I know that trying to go toe to toe with the stress expends a lot of energy. Lately, I open the Headspace app and start a 10 minute meditation. Feeling where my feet are, the sounds, focusing on my breath.

We have lost a lot right now, some more than others. We’re grieving the loss of what our normal lives used to be.

How to Pre-Buy Local

Many local shops aren’t set up for times like this. They don’t have the online webstore, the e-commerce gift card set up, or an easy way to just GIVE THEM MONEY ONLINE.

My record store growing up was Main St. Juke Box, on Main St. in downtown Stroudsburg, PA. This is the shop where I bought White Zombie, and Mr. Bungle, and Faith No More CDs. This shop, in a way, set me on the path to where I am today, from way back in the 90s.

They don’t have an online store, and the owner Tom sometime posts vinyl on Instaram, but I’m not much of a record guy, but then I saw this post:

Heck yes! I’ve reached out about getting a care package of thrash metal CDs.

Ready Set Run is the local running shop in town. It’s where I bought a pair of trail running shoes before I started running (I just wanted something better to hike in), and when I eventually started running and got hurt because I was buying $45 junk running shoes on Amazon, they set me up with some real running shoes, not to mention some neat group runs that involved ice cream and tacos!

They offer gift certificates on their site, so I ordered one for $50 towards a future pair of shoes when things get back to normal. What a fun trip that is going to be!

Finally, my favorite coffee shop (well, the only one besides Starbucks) is this tiny place called Cafe Duet, and I can’t imagine how hard the recent shut downs have affected them.

The owners opened their own coffee roaster in Delaware Water Gap, called Santa Mama and they ship coffee – they even have a subscription bundle!

It might take some digging, but see if you can throw some money towards one or two of your favorite local shops in the coming week or two (or three, or four…). Check their website (if they have one), or scroll through their Instagram feed (the damn algorithms may not show you some of these really important posts).

This whole post and my purchases tonight were inspired by an email I got from Freshbooks:

I recognize this “idea” and this call to action will not work for every kind of business, or in every circumstance. I recognize not everyone has money to share right now. These are indeed imperfect times, but perhaps you can take the spirit of this message, find the good in it, and evolve my proposal to suit your needs or those around you.

Open Letter From the Founder of FreshBooks Regarding COVID-19

That about sums it up right there – if you can help, help. If you can’t, that’s more than okay. Put your own oxygen mask on before you help others at this point. Stay safe, everyone!

Do Your Work

I stayed up late on Wednesday night, watching all of the commentary about the NBA game cancellations. Since Thursday morning, things have been hazy. My head just feels in a fog, with so many reports, stories, and noise.

What’s the best course of action? What to do next? Should I get extra cat food?

Then a Friday call with a good friend set me at ease; “just do your work.” I’m paraphrasing, but the first thing I need to do is my work, because it needs to get done, so I can send an invoice and get paid.

Does it NEED to be done? In the grand scheme of things? Doesn’t matter. Now isn’t the time for grand thinking, and figuring things out. Do the work, then do what else needs to get done.

Everything is Cancelled

I was supposed to travel to NYC on Wednesday, and I’m glad I didn’t. That night I sat down to watch some NBA basketball, and then all heck broke loose. One game cancelled, then another, then the entire NBA season was suspended. Other leagues followed suit in the next day or so.

So just two days later the Queens Marathon got pushed back to November 15th. All schools in PA are closed for two weeks.

Nearly all the people I work for, they’ve got bands who were just heading out on tour, and those tours are cancelled now, which affects a ton of people.

Everything feels foggy now, in a haze. It feels like 9/11 did, but that was this moment, whereas with this we’re still in the after shocks, and we don’t know when it’ll end. All we can do is wait.

Don’t Grumble, Donate

I saw a bumper sticker tonight that I don’t care for. Instead of grumbling about it, which does nothing, I donated money to something good.

The person with the bumper sticker – they spent the money, right? They believed in something enough to pull out their wallet. And if all I do is scoff, then they won.

And it doesn’t have be $25 every time. Five dollars still helps. So does sharing something you like, emailing a friend about a cool video you found, or loaning a book to an old friend.

There Are No Shortcuts

It was a moment where my draw dropped, and I never bothered to write it down.

I was walking somewhere up 5th Ave in NYC, listening to music on my iPod (yeah, this was awhile ago). I remember hearing a lyric from the song I was listening to, and seeing inside a BestBuy, the exact same words on a sign.

It’s not like it was a Top 40 hit, and I saw a display for the same top 40 hit. No, they were completely separate. A song lyric, and some marketing message on a sign that I’ve long forgotten.

But it happened again recently. Sort of.

I was listening to a song by one of my favorite bands, Into Another, from their album ‘Seemless.’ As I was running on the treadmill at my local Planet Fitness, I glanced at a TV commercial for some bathroom product, and the word ‘Seamless’ flashed across the screen.

Okay, not quite the same word, but close.

Today I read Khe Hy’s email newsletter Rad Read, and the first story was “Be the best at the worst,” which I then read on his site. The phrase “there are no shortcuts” stuck out to me, especially in the area of running.

Then my friend Jasper published a blog post (thanks RSS newsreader!) about cleaning his keyboard and he said, “Easily the most boring part of mechanical keyboards is lubing switches. It is, unfortunately, not optional. There are no shortcuts.”

What’s it mean? I don’t know, but it’s a double dose of truth today; “there are no shortcuts.”

Staying on Track

I sometimes wonder why I stuck with running, and I think it’s because I didn’t just want to lose weight. Pretty sure it was because I wanted to become a runner.

James Clear talks about that a bunch in his book Atomic Habits, which I’ve referenced a bunch of times.

Instead of “I can’t eat cake,” it becomes “I don’t eat cake because I’m a runner.” I mean, I still eat cake, and mmmm, I love cookies. But my grocery shopping these days it a lot more veggies and fruit and beans than it is junk food that I used to buy just a few years ago.

So, to become a runner, I just had to run. But it’s weird to think I started that back in 2016, almost four years ago. I’m trying to apply that to other areas of my life now, too – financial, work, mental health. Running has showed me that the choices I make each day can lead to bigger things down the road.

Time with Creeks

A walk along the creek always does me good, getting close to water. I’m not much of a swimmer, not really a beach person. Just get me next to the water, though, and I’m content.

It reminds me of 2010, when I was getting ready to leave New York City. I had time to bike around to various parks on the water front, up and down Brooklyn. I remember my heart was troubled around that time, but the rivers helped me navigate. The East River heard a bunch of drama and never judged me for it.

Today, a small creek was enough. Just a casual stroll before lunch, in the cold, but it worked. Time in nature isn’t just there for the troubling times, but for the upswings, too.