Last week’s break was such a good thing for me… mentally. I did not blog and I did not spend much time on social media… the total time I spent was picking photos for two IG posts from Erie. Posting and not scrolling seems selfish as I am writing this today. But being away from social media has given me lots to think about and while I am not at all ready to give up my blog, perhaps I am ready to give up social media.
But while I mull all that over in my brain… I do have some AMAZING finds for you this week! Things that will get you outside, give you things to think about, and perhaps discover something new! Let’s get started:
Thing One —
Tomorrow is Global Big Day! That’s right, another bird count day… an important one because we are at the peak of migration season! Recording the birds you see or hear is super fun… and super easy! All the “how” details are here so get out there and look for birds!
Thing Two —
This one has been loudest in my brain. I have listened to this episode twice and I have it saved so I can listen again. It is the Emergence Podcast discussion with Jenny Odell about time. I am on the waitlist for her book so I can delve deeper into her thoughts on time. One thing I know for sure, I have been working on incorporating more vertical time into my day… less horizontal time and my gosh, I love it!
Thing Three (a) —
This week, The Slowdown podcast has done something amazing… Major Jackson has spent the week discussing poetry with a guest host… a young guest host! It has been so much fun! I have LOVED the poems the kids have selected, I have LOVED the conversations the kids had about their love of poetry, and I have really LOVED the poetry word games that Major Jackson played with the kids each day. If you have children in your life… queue up The Slowdown and introduce them to the joy of poetry!
Thing Three (b) —
It has been the week for Discovering Youth Poets! Twitter has become less of a hellscape since I discovered Joseph Fasano and his “daily poetry thread” But really, his poetry prompts for kids might be my favorite and have blown me away! And he has a prompt for Mother’s Day!
This Sunday we will celebrate all mothers. Here is a poetry prompt to help us say thank you to our mothers for helping us find and love ourselves. Teachers, students, anyone, feel free to share what you create ❤️ pic.twitter.com/M8S971Dod0
— Joseph Fasano (@Joseph_Fasano_) May 11, 2023
And there you have my finds for today… enjoy your weekend and Happy Mother’s Day! I will be back on Monday with a new Museum of Me exhibit!
I adore Jenny Odell! I haven’t had the chance to read her new book yet — but want to. I will definitely listen to the podcast — so thank you for that link! I am right there with you on the social media “thing.” I find myself turning to IG (the only platform I have left) less and less often. And . . . I really don’t miss it. Enjoy the weekend, Kat! XO
I think it’s key to involve children in poetry early on so they realize it’s a fun form of expression and not an exercise in drudgery, memorization, and figuring out what the author meant. Thank you for the links!
I’m not giving up blogging either (although taking a break can be a good thing) but I’m down to only IG and Goodreads. I still find value in GR, but I’m thinking about getting rid of IG and freeing up some time and space. Happy Weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!
Lovely post Kat and Happy Mother’s Day to you as well. I look at IG primarily for vegan recipes. That’s it! And, it does not take much time. I do enjoy blogging and reading blogs, so no intention of giving that up.
I’m glad you enjoyed the mental break from social media last week. I am always torn between hating it and loving it. I tend to use Twitter as a means of staying up with the news and IG is purely for joy (yarn, fiber, sewing, flowers, dogs, etc.). I keep waiting for Twitter to implode and force me to go off it.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a delightful Mother’s Day — hope you’ve got plans to talk to all of your kids and your adorable grandkids!
A break from social media is a good thing. I do enjoy writing and reading blogs but feel like I can be more selective. Jenny Odell’s work intrigues me. Here’s hoping your are able to connect with your three children this weekend. They have an amazing Mom.
I think a break from social media is a good thing to help identify where it makes your life better . . . and where it doesn’t. I really can’t give up facebook because of my elected position but I rarely post there. I do love TikTok, though! It’s been such a great way to connect with like minded individuals and I’ve learned so much, too!
Thank you for the podcast link. The idea of vertical time vs horizontal time has me intrigued!
And the birding in the last couple of weeks has been AMAZING. I love migration time!!
So much to dig into here, Kat–thank you! I haven’t read about vertical/horizontal time (yet), but I can take a pretty educated guess at it–and I’d also guess where social media falls into that. I ducked out a few years ago (because I have very limited bandwidth)–so I’m always curious about others’ experiences as they take steps toward less. Interestingly, our 15-yr-old son just had his phone taken away last week (ohmygod these years can be hard). And last night he told me he actually finds it a relief. (He was late to get one–we held off until a year and a half ago!) Our 19-yr-old has also told me she uses her phone less than she did a few months ago–more, now, for actual communication; less for scrolling (which is often ‘compare and despair’). It gives me hope for a wee bit of shift. Hope that’s not just naïveté on my part.