New year, better problems

ninety-nine problems but better problems

somewhere in détroit

Hi there,

How was your Dead Week?

Five things to share:

1. (Since I don't listen, let me reframe.)

   Choose better problems in 2023. Ask yourself, what problems do I want to have this year? You will be surprised by how much better you will feel this way. You can choose the problem of app-induced loneliness or socializing; the grass is greener where you water it. You can choose to escape yourself scrolling endlessly or face yourself in the deafening silence of stillness, to learn a thing or two, to try your luck at redemption; you're not getting out alive either way.

2. Let’s try something new here, where I tell you a few things I enjoyed offline this past week, in hopes that you find some inspiration for your own living, but mostly because I get to talk about myself more ☺️:

   • Sleepover with my 4-year-old niece where she forgets her tablet and we entertain ourselves with her exquisite sense of humour; drawing on my face and making me laugh with her perfectly-timed ‘bruh’ response to every single situation possible.

   • The whole bar singing along to Someone Like You start to finish at karaoke night. Looking around and knowing we’ll be alright.

   • Browsing at a bookstore with my friend and her reading me 20 Signs You’re Doing Better Than You Think You Are from 101 Essays. Buying the book so I won’t forget. (Love you <3)

   • Reading FROM A LOW AND QUIET SEA on the train, holding back tears¹, and noticing a lovely mother-daughter duo get on the train to finally teach me I can heal by giving what I didn’t get. (Or the importance of paying attention to your surroundings so you don’t miss out when the gods show up unexpectedly)

   • Finishing my first workout class of the year feeling on top of the world. Knowing I will have this feeling again, and again, and again, and again…

     (Or the importance of showing up for your life again, and again, and again, and again…)

3. A quote I want to share with you:

   Men are born soft and supple;

   dead, they are stiff and hard.

   Plants are born tender and pliant;

   dead, they are brittle and dry.

   Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible

   is a disciple of death.

   Whoever is soft and yielding

   is a disciple of life.

   The hard and stiff will be broken.

   The soft and supple will prevail.

   — Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)

   I said I’m done with self-help books but I lied. (And found this quote)

4. Stop walking with your phone in your hand all the time, look up and see how strange and beautiful the world is, and other Resolutions for 2023.

5. A question for you: What can you do in the next week that will make the rest of the year easier?

That’s all for this week!

Thank you for reading, and share with anyone you think may benefit.

time spent offline is now a monthly analog publication you can get delivered straight to your mailbox with 20 ideas every month.

Until next time,

Mehret

1. … and Farouk realized she wasn’t afraid, that it would not occur to a child so loved and protected to feel she was in danger, with her father and her mother so close by, that her trust in them was implicit and complete, that her love for them was perfect.