they're clichés because they're true

[jesse_the_k]

haste does indeed make waste

Since I retired on disability in 1993, I've been flailing. I've been trying to do things as quickly as possible so as to use my limited time "productively."

Swimming rewarded me for attending closely to the stretch, the pull, the roll, the glide. Meditation has taught me what "being in the moment" feels like.

Every morning I pour hot water between glasses to cool it to 165°F for the best green tea brew. As I was cleaning up my most recent spill, I realized that the internal scold faster! only ramps up my anxiety. And thus I make more mistakes.

I can spend 10 minutes making tea and sink into the sound of the water sloshing, its weight as it passes, the smell and taste of the tea.

And that's fully ok.

Comments

[julian]

a) this is gorgeous

b) "...the internal scold faster! only ramps up my anxiety..." Yes, indeed. (I say, resonating.)

Thanks for your kind words.

[jesse_the_k]

Damn anxiety is a leech, taking energy from where and whatever. I've gotten anxious about good things.

[yourlibrarian]

These sort of focused, meditative activities really make obvious how much the whole rush-rush of our present lives intrudes on the day.

Your icon puts me in mind

[jesse_the_k]

...of the night owls I know, who seem to take the world a little slower. Darn sunlight!

[lilysea]

I've had to learn to do things slowly because

less chance of dropping things

less chance of tweaking a muscle/joint/ligament and being in pain for days or weeks.

I do things a lot more slowly than most people.

Fast = injury

Hard won wisdom

[jesse_the_k]

for the both of us.

[azurelunatic]

My great-grandboss at my facilities job was a retired US Marine, and for our big move projects, he kept repeating the Marine maxim: "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."

[jesse_the_k]

Mmmmmm. Not only a maxim, but an excellent candidate for a mantra. Also would look nice in needlepoint.

[forests_of_fire]

♥

[jesse_the_k]

<3 <3

[replyhazy]

this was a super interesting read.

I realized recently that when stretching to increase my mobility, I keep trying to do it "faster". I have to keep stopping myself from internally saying "get this done!" Because of course it doesn't help to do it quickly; that's counter productive. But why on earth do I keep telling myself to hurry up?

The water we swim in

[jesse_the_k]

... is all about productivity and speedup and multitasking and similar bullshit. (One driver is the "brain as a computer" analogy. Some processors/OSes can truly multitask, but humans only approximate it by overloading our circuits. OTOH, we can do ethics and joy and innovation.)

It took me decades to understand that easing into stretches is the point.

[applenym]

As I was cleaning up my most recent spill, I realized that the internal scold faster! only ramps up my anxiety. And thus I make more mistakes.

Ohhh, yes. I need to slow down so I don't hurt myself, but it's so very hard to do.

[jesse_the_k]

It is hard. It does dial back the anxiety, though, so my effort is well-compensated.

[luzula]

Driveby hugs!

[jesse_the_k]

🚗🚲

Do you own a car?

[luzula]

Ha ha no, it was a metaphor. : )

[esteefee]

in programming, faster is always, always wrong.

but there is a constant spring tightening inside me so yeah, I have had to learn to unwind it. it's so hard!

looking at kittens is what I do to chill. :)

[jesse_the_k]

Kittens are the best (including Punk, of course).

The AGILE management nonsense -- move fast, break things -- seems antithetical to effective programming. Is your work public-facing?

[esteefee]

we are an agile company. I have to say development is kind of crap since we switched over.

yes about our software. I work for Broadcom but it's enterprise software (Symantec Endpoint Protection or SEP) so large companies purchase it (such as government agencies or yahoo or whatever).

[jesse_the_k]

A massively off-line pal is the lone remaining COBOL programmer for a private utility. The company is trying to replace the big iron with SAAS, and interfacing with the agile folks is headache inducing. "Oh well, we can think about fixing that in a couple of months." It's scary.

Yes the era when big iron was protected by the votaries (with pocket protectors ofc) was rigid to the extreme. But the program worked.

/shakes head back and forth, knocks back another cup of tea/

[esteefee]

yeah, release it broken, fix it later is another agile trick not mentioned in the guidelines.

[sasha_feather]

Having a sleepy dog is a helpful reminder!

Not only a visual reminder

[jesse_the_k]

...but my Bella baby offers a relaxation soundtrack of hums and snores and wheezes.