Welcome to week 24 of Internet of Literal Things. The weird, wacky, wonderful, and wild of the world wide web seems to be several-too-many “w’s” and a perfect place for me to start. I’m Sara Nason, a fellow person on the internet, who happens to have many hours on hand to read random articles that are tucked into multiple crevices in my phone.
Ooof, y’all. As someone who has had waves of overwhelming stress and anxiety throughout my entire life, it’s never a fun time when a large wave approaches, and there’s nothing you can do but paddle towards it, ready to surf. Stress and anxiety are normal emotions — they are two feelings in the complex universe of feelings that tell us something about the environment we’re in. When stress and anxiety pop up for me, I’ve created a tool-box for myself to go to in order to best navigate the wave I’m about to come face-to-face with.
As my life tends to go, especially on holiday weekends, I can look off into the not-too-distant future (i.e. Monday or Tuesday) and see a massive wave of all the feelings approaching. It’s about a week-long in duration, having seen and experienced and survived similar waves before. But it’s an unpleasant emotional week. Being an empath makes this complicated, because I’m already sensitive to the people, places, and things around me — so when I’m stressed, all of the noises, emotions, and activities going on around me are heightened.
But another thing I’ve learned through many of these waves — both good and bad, is that chaos reigns. Having a schedule/synchronicity/system in place for radical self-care is the strongest possible surfboard for these emotional waves. And I do have to admit to myself that my schedule/system/synchronicity are going to change in this semi-new chapter of adulthood; I’m working on seeing each wave as a smaller and smaller event, so when I see one on the horizon, I’m able to jump into action.
So, strangers of the internet, here we go. chaos reigns for the Internet of Literal Things #24
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What I’m Reading
Do plants have something to say? (NY Times)
How shift happens in our lives (Zen Habits)
The rich can’t get richer forever, can they? (The New Yorker)
Credit cards have a privacy problem (Washington Post)
The New American Homeless (The New Republic)
The commuting principle that shaped urban history (CityLab)
The Cherokee Nation intends to appoint a representative to Congress (CNN)
How “reason” and “civility” are used to defend racism (Washington Post)
Utopia, abandoned (NY Times)
On Google Maps, a town called Atlas keeps disappearing (CityLab)
Environmental justice issues aren’t just for people of privilege (LongReads)
What I’m Visually Experiencing
Louisiana teen wears hilarious costumes to greet little brother at bus stop every day (KMOV4)
What I’m Listening To
🏆 A Photo of An #UglyDogs Related Thing On The Internet 🥇
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