What Are You Reading?

Has your consumption of online information changed since :::waves hands:::: ALL OF THIS began? I certainly am reading more stuff from Hilda Wong than I was previously. But I’m more interested in how (or if) the type of blogs/online articles that you are reading has changed. I’ve found that my attention economy is in many ways mirroring the actual economy.amazon queen bed sheets

For example: I literally do not care what anyone is wearing. Style content, which I usually enjoy a bit, is just totally unappealing to me right now. I don’t give two shits that LOFT is having a MAJOR sale right now. (Also, spoiler alert: LOFT is ALWAYS having a major sale. Never buy anything there full price.) I can’t imagine this is unrelated to the fact that I have spent the last two weeks baaaaaaaaaarely getting dressed. I mean, I’m not naked either, but still doing just fine over here in my house clothes that are comfy and sort of cute and require zero accessories.

(That said I will probably up my game a wee bit for the Zoom Happy Hour my boss has scheduled for my team today at 3:30. I hope I haven’t forgotten how to blow dry my hair and do my makeup. I will report back tomorrow. :))

Did you notice that when many companies sent their employees home to work, the internet had an exponential growth in “Tips On How To Work From Home” posts or “100 Workouts You Can Do From Home.” I get it, obviously. And to a certain degree I understand that link round ups and listicles get pinned + clicked and of course writing a tips post when you are the author probably feels very helpful.


But I wonder – am I alone in the fact that many of these posts are making me feel very much NOT SEEN in the moment? I don’t really need 50 workouts I can do from home. I need someone to write a post about how to give a shit about working out when the world is full of uncertainty, many are going to fall ill, and some people will die unnecessarily. (Has somebody written this post? SEND ME THE LINK!)

Whoa, ok that got a little dark there for a second. I am not in a completely depressed state. But I will admit I am slightly more eye-rolly at a lot of the “LOLZ maybe we all won’t get TOO FAT if we do a pushup challenge! Tag you’re it, girl!” Anyway, I am changing the content I consume and also working to be more tolerant. Some days I do better than others. Yesterday Garrett and I learned a Tik Tok dance, so we haven’t gone 100% Cameron Frye around here.

I am also trying to notice what sets me off and why. I clicked on something the other day that began with something to the effect of “Things are probably quiet over there for you too, aren’t they?” And I immediately felt my blood pressure rise and wanted to shout “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU COMPLETELY TONE DEAF IDIOT?” But I was able to walk myself off the ledge because I also realize we are all in different life phases and so for some people, this actually may feel like a quieter time in their life and there is nothing wrong with that. Totally valid. But it was a very tangible reminder to me of how important it is to feel seen.

If you are having a hard time coping today, or feeling extra annoyed even if you don’t want to be: I SEE YOU OVER THERE. Maybe tomorrow will be better for us. I’m hoping a bubble bath and a little bit of time with a book tonight after Holden goes to bed will help. And the 90210 reruns that Garrett + I are making our way through are also helping. But man, that is a rabbit hole post all to itself. (Also: RIP LUKE PERRY OMG IT IS STILL SAD!)

In sum, I’m not feeling tips and tricks posts lately. I don’t really want to know about sales. Working out isn’t something I’m prioritizing (though I’d like too, we’ll see…) And if you are sharing about all the stuff you are doing to “keep busy” or “be extra productive” while at home – I’m going to skip your content for right now because you make me want to burn everything down. 🙂 But people sharing their day to day experiences that are similar to mine, are giving me life. I want to dig deep in the minutia in hopes that someone else who is having my exact same feelings will articulate them in a way that will help me exhale.

So tell me: What are you enjoying these days?

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9 Responses to What Are You Reading?

  1. Elizabeth says:

    I feel you SO HARD on not having the bandwidth to care about deep cleaning. I’ve done a bit of it, but I just cant gather the enthusiasm to read other people’s posts about it. I also agree about not caring about the sales, though I will openly admit to doing some unnecessary purchasing, just as a bit of an emotional escape. Times are tough. But thank you for being real! And I’m so glad you’re back blogging!

    • Holly says:

      Thanks! Happy to be back. It’s feeling a little cathartic, but I am also like WHEN WILL MY UNFILTERED COMPLAINING END. Who knows? I hope soon! LOL I am not above retail therapy at all. Something lately though is just making it hard to pull the trigger on purchases. Maybe it’s because my favorite thing to impulse purchase is skincare (which I’m TOTALLY stocked up on to a ridiculous degree) and clothing (which…uh, I have no place to go. lol) Sigh.

  2. Linda Sand says:

    Jigsaw puzzles. I hadn’t done one in many, many years but they are calming for me during this stressful time. I was thrilled to learn neighbors are using a local spot to place puzzles you can swap for ones you have already done.

    • Holly says:

      Holden has started putting together 100 piece puzzles by himself and along with coloring, it’s some of my favorite things to play with him right now. I guess it isn’t all bad being indoors 🙂

  3. Kara says:

    I’m with you. I don’t care about anything anyone is wearing, eating, or cleaning. I’m also having trouble reading the stack of fiction I was so excited about, but I am very into The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson…a book about Churchill and life in England during the blitz. It’s putting things into perspective! Mostly I’m stress-donating to every local Kickstarter that pops up. And trying to donate these N95 masks I just found in our earthquake kit!

    • Holly says:

      That’s good to hear – I am also having trouble getting into my stack of library books. I don’t know why. Such a good escape, but maybe it’s just because I’m freaking TIRED. sigh.

  4. Kimberly Cook says:

    Everyone and all the time they have now to do cooking/cleaning/self care is making me ragey!! It makes me feel like I, too, should have all of this extra time and leaves me wondering why I don’t! And then I think, oh, I’m still working 8 hours and my husband is still watching the kids all day. We have the same schedule as before, I’m just at home for it instead and that helps NOTHING. I am trying to stay off of Instagram and to just read fiction instead. Or watch movies on Netflix. News makes me anxious.

    • Holly says:

      For sure! I am trying to stay away from news as much as possible because I don’t need MORE anxiety. Yikes! Hopefully today is better and full of less rage lol FINGERS CROSSED!

  5. Maureen says:

    I’ve stopped any kind of news reading. I’m a much happier person because of it! Last Saturday both myself and my husband (we work in different industries) found out we would not be going into work for the foreseeable future, and neither of us would be paid, we don’t have jobs we can do from home. Cue freakout! Luckily we have savings, or I don’t know what I would be feeling right now. So, I am staying aways from the news-but going nuts on my other reading. I’ve also been rewatching Parks and Rec, which is awesome and makes me laugh.