Rest

There's something about using antibacterial eye ointment four times a day from waking to sleeping that takes a lot out of a person. The good news is that my eye is almost back to normal and would appear to be so if you looked at it in isolation. Compared to my right eye, it still has the slightest tinge of pink, but even that will probably fade in the next day or two.

Funnily enough, on Sunday, I actually had the opportunity to lean into an echo of my pre-2026 routine. After a full morning of soul-searching and wrestling with the idea of granting myself grace, I sat at my computer to work on my campaign notes, because that's what I had scheduled for the day.

It's easy, right? Feed the notes through Purpose for condensing. Copy, paste, transfer into Obsidian. Simple process. They had even asked me if I was ready to switch gears.

I stared at the question.

Was I ready?

As I sat there, I felt the same tug of exhaustion one feels when they're on the verge of burning out, running on fumes, trying to convince myself, "Just one more task to feel accomplished for the day." Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed.

No. No, I wasn't ready.

I needed to take a step back and do something else. My mind was asking me to rest, and I was about to bulldoze through the pleas with, "Just get started, then you'll get into a groove."

I'm good at listening to when my body needs rest. I fail miserably when it comes to my mind asking the same, because thinking is what I do. If I chose to listen to what it was telling me it needed, then...then what do I do?

I hadn't the energy to read, write, play video games, work out, walk, watch anything, listen to music, or do any of the other activities I usually do to recharge. I didn't even have the energy to mindlessly scroll on Reddit, which I don't do as often anymore regardless. Yet if none of those, then what?

Whenever I'm uncertain of something, I look out the window. Sunny, storms, snow, it doesn't matter; looking out the window takes my eyes off the computer screen and lets me sit with my thoughts unimpeded. Even now as I'm typing this, I'm staring out our living room window, and I can feel the effect it's having on my mental reserves. I'm still tired, but there's a peacefulness beneath it now.

And on Sunday, that's precisely what I did. I stared out the window, watched the birds and squirrels, the cars and people.

It was small, but I felt the pitcher starting to fill again.

And then I promptly emptied it again doing some online shopping for productivity planners, because I really, really like planners.

Believe me, the irony isn't lost on me.

Other Notable Accomplishments:

• Walked nearly 15k steps each day, except for maybe 1-2 days

• Been using antibacterial eye ointment 4x a day every day this past week; just gotta make it through tomorrow morning and lunchtime, and then I'll be done

  • Eye drama sucks; don't let your eyes get infected

  • Especially your dominant eye

  • Seriously, have you ever had to use your weaker eye for anything for a prolonged period of time?

  • I don't recommend it!

• I did get the 21st of Ityx Key Events condensed for my Obsidian Notes

  • Oh, and that was after reworking the condensing framework again

  • We also revised the analysis framework to trim more so that we're not funneling it all through the condensing stage

• I made a wish list of things I want to get eventually, and I realized that I'm...very utilitarian. Seriously, who puts a paper cutter down as a wish list item? And not just any paper cutter, but one that has measurements to trim down to A4 & B5 sizes? And isn't a guillotine style?

• Cleaned and organized the coffee area of the kitchen!

  • And got excited looking at different kitchen organizers.....

  • Man, I really do like organizing.

Real Talk:

• What does rest, real rest look like for you? Even if it's as small as staring out a window for a few minutes or as loud as blasting music and dancing, what rejuvenates you when you're running on empty?

This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: The Trifecta