Today was a first. I laid down a drum track using the iPad, and sent it overseas to my dad in Kenya for him to overlay guitar and vocals.
I know musicians have been doing this for ages, but Covid19 is forcing us to use the tools at our disposal and pushing us out of our comfort zones. For me that means sticking to a blogging commitment and producing music with family overseas.
I just love the internet.
Happy Sunday chimps.
Today was the most perfect weather in Cape Town. High of 25 Celsius and not a breath of wind. The air is clear as crystal. Maybe it’s because of COVID19 slowing the pollution levels. Maybe it’s just a nice day.
I can see hawks circling the forest below the mountains from my garden. They must have some great views up there.
We made the most of it, swimming, working on the garden, playing with kids.
Even though there is always the thought of the big world out there on a lovely day like today, everything (even lockdown) is a little better with the sun shining. I hope there are more sunny days than not for the duration of the pandemic.
Happy Saturday chimps.
I think I’m on 25 days straight blogging, or something like that.
I have so far written some absolute rubbish and a couple of posts I am actually quite proud of.
This streak has helped me rearrange the menu on my blog website, now including a Kenya and South Africa section because I find the comparisons interesting to write about.
It hasn’t made it any easier to write well. If I write every single day it just removes some of the fear of writing badly.
I don’t care about a bad post because I know I’ll have another chance tomorrow.
Happy Friday chimps.
Day 20-something in a row and I nearly forgot to write a blog post!
I’ll get something substantial up tomorrow.
Happy Monday chimps.
Be well and take care out there.
It’s nearly the end of the day and I haven’t yet managed to write a blog post.
I’m on about 22 posts in my bid for 30 straight. I nearly laughed it off today, but I will be damned if I am going to let this very difficult day get in the way of a good writing streak!
That’s the thing about streaks, once they start you are less likely to quit.
This still counts, and the streak goes on!
Happy Friday night chimps.
It’s nearly the end of the day and I haven’t yet managed to write a blog post.
I’m on about 22 posts in my bid for 30 straight. I nearly laughed it off today, but I will be damned if I am going to let this very difficult day get in the way of a good writing streak!
That’s the thing about streaks, once they start you are less likely to quit.
This still counts, and the streak goes on!
Happy Friday night chimps.
In my long quest for productivity, I have downloaded an app called coach.me.
It lets you set goals and then track progress day by day. I set myself the goal of thirty days consecutive writing on this blog.
So far I am on day 9. I have started writing streaks before, and around about day 10 it feels like that Marilyn Monroe movie “The 7 year itch”. The excitement is gone and the grind is real. This app certainly helps, though.
This is nine, tomorrow is ten. And on we go.
Holiday was cut short by a military lockdown. Not your usual reason.
It’s nice to be home. I’m trying to be optimistic. This is a chance to live differently. Thank the Gods we are allowed to walk the dogs. This is good for both my dogs and my marriage!
21 days can sometimes fly by. My children are confused about the interruption but I think they’ll cope fine.
We have food, we have plenty of work to do on the house, and actual job work which is still coming in over this period though to a lesser extent.
We have entertainment, a garden with a pool. We have space in the house and we have shops down the road. We have every chance of side stepping this damned virus.
Here’s to healthy kids, dogs, marriages and national lockdowns.
An unexpected halt to an idea will cause heartbreak. Heartbreak is inevitable and yet we spend most our lives trying to avoid it. How to live with heartbreak?
Like most of the world, South Africa is shutting down in response to the corona virus. It is heartbreaking. Heartbreaking for my kids who have had their holiday cut short. Heartbreaking for my wife and I to forget all the plans we had made. Our ideas around freedom, health, community are all being challenged. This too is a heartbreak. How to live with heartbreak? I’m finding this quote from David Whyte helpful:
If heartbreak is inevitable and inescapable, it might be asking us to look for it and make friends with it, to see it as our constant and instructive companion, and perhaps, in the depth of its impact as well as in its hindsight, and even, its own reward. Heartbreak asks us not to look for an alternative path, because there is no alternative path. It is an introduction to what we love and have loved, an inescapable and often beautiful question, something and someone that has been with us all along, asking us to be ready for the ultimate letting go.
The quote suggests that there is a use to this feeling of loss and damage. We must be ready to let go. We must all get ready to die. Not just in times of crisis but every day. Use the time you’re given as if you will have to let it all go one day. As if your time will come to an end. Because it will.
There are many methods to create new habits. If you create and persist with these new habits, you alter your longer term behavior.
At first these changes in behavior are hard to keep up. They feel wrong, and difficult and like hard work. But over time, if you persist, then they become second nature. What was difficult becomes manageable.
In this time of pandemic, panic, pandemonium – it makes sense to me that you could find yourself a method to create some new habits. Persist with the new habits even as you hit a trough of disillusionment. Even as you are tempted to take the easy route. Once you pass through the dip, you will find the new behavior easier to manage. It will normalize.
Chimpwithcans 