Down with Covid. Up with a Reset!
Discover more from Diane Discovers
Down with Covid. Up with a Reset!
Covid might have knocked me down, but I'm coming back with an updated Substack and more.
I'm a little late to the pandemic, but I'm currently recovering from a nasty bout of covid. It's been over two weeks since I started feeling ill, and I'll admit, about five days were scary and beyond exhausting. But I'm on the mend. Still exhausted, but things are going in the right direction.
My illness came on just after I returned from seeing Bruce Springsteen in Denver. Yes, I was vacc'ed and had all the boosters. Yes, I generally took precautions. But I decided a couple months ago that I can't live my life indoors behind a mask. So I started going to public events.
Turns out Bruce canceled his following three shows due to an illness they never disclosed. So did I give covid to him, or did he give to me? Hmmm. (smiley emoji)
Aside from the few days I couldn't do more than stare out the window at birds on my patio wall, I've decided to take this time to contemplate my journey.
Diane Discovers
Among my ruminations has been the future of this Substack. I've been publishing for just over two years. And even though I've made a few tweaks, I'm generally not feeling connected with what I want to write about.Â
My last piece, "An Ode to Bruce Springsteen," is similar to what I want to share. The kind of articles like "Five Reasons You Need A Writing Group" aren't. Anyway, AI will write these types of articles shortly - if it already isn't being done - so it's probably a good time to refocus.
I've changed the newsletter's name from "Next Draft" to "Diane Discovers." The updated description is, "A newsletter offering insight into our ever-evolving life adventure by exploring purpose, meaning, and the search for Self. And cool things. Join this amazing journey! Free and optional paid."
Upcoming pieces might be about internal discoveries, like my growing interest in Stoicism, which I've started getting into since becoming ill. Or maybe I'll share interesting things I do or find - like George R.R. Martin's Sky Railway here in New Mexico. Or sharing stories of chasing The Dalai Lama around the world. I want to mix things up and make this more enjoyable for both of us.
And, mainly, I've decided to focus more on the themes I explore in my fiction - and on what interests me most, e.g., purpose, contentment, and the spiritual path. With lots of fun thrown in along the way.
And the Rest
I started reevaluating things before I got ill, but I've had time to focus over the past few weeks. I'm committed to streamlining my work and writing - and giving myself more time to play. If you don't hear from me on the first three Tuesdays of the month, rest assured I'm hard at work either playing or getting the next book finished.
Focus is coming. I can feel it. It may be surreal and satirical, but I'm approaching the direction I want to happily skip toward. Please let me know if you'd like me to dive into anything in particular.
A Side Note of Thanks
A huge thank you to everyone who sent ideas on helping heal from the virus. I can't begin to imagine what people went through before the vaccines. Among all the supplements and suggestions, using a Neti Pot has really helped.
If you don't know what one is, it looks like an Aladdin's lamp. You fill it with warm water and salts, stick it in one nostril, tilt your head, and the water runs through your sinuses and out the other side of your nose. I know! It can sound gross - but it helps flush things out and lubricates your head and throat.
I plan to do it regularly now, especially after crowded public events. Maybe it'll help flush out any virus if I pick it up again. To our health!
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And Finally
Diane Discovers is broken up into different sections to cover several topics, including the main Diane Discovers category (mainly things to do with the newsletter and ‘zines when I do them), Musings, Self-Care/Spirit, Indie Publishing & Writing, and Rock Gods & Messy Monsters.
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Down with Covid. Up with a Reset!
I like the new focus of your publication Diane, and the new name. Looking forward to more.
I hope your recovery from Covid goes well. It's nasty and I'm glad I'm over it. Hey, I thought those vaccines were supposed to, like, actually work? Silly me. I agree that you can't live your life indoors with a mask on. Some people avoid public events. I see people in my grocery store still wearing masks. I see people alone in their own cars still wearing masks. It's not a stretch to say that the masks, like the vaccines, don't do any good either.
Anyhoo, resetting, and re-resetting when the first reset wasn't quite what you wanted, is/are good. It's easy to toodle along in life and just end it all off not even with a whimper, because one is afraid it might make too much noise and bother the neighbours.
I hope some of the "discovers" will also be "reveals," though I understand not using the title "Diane Reveals" as it might give people the wrong idea. Seriously, what I mean is the fostering of as-absolute-as-one-can-manage self-revelation. Most people don't do it and most people are a little uncomfortable hearing it too.
I've been on some dating-site dates for the past year or so. Maybe half a dozen or a few more. In most cases, I told the woman that she could ask absolutely anything she wanted to about me, and I would tell her the truth. Not one of them asked anything even near substantive. Instead they did the opposite and spent an inordinate amount of time detailing trivia about their own lives. In fact, in most cases, I was not only not asked a substantive question, I was not asked a single question of _any_ kind.
Isn't anyone curious these days?
I've found that my natural tendency to ask questions, and to answer them when (rarely) asked, has only increased since I retired three years ago at the tender age of 60. My rationale is, "Fuck it, what's the worst that can happen?" The geniuses <sarcasm> who are running the wars and the economy and the planet we still are able to live on for another few years are doing such a shitshow of a job that any little tidbit I tell to anyone doesn't make any difference anyway.
In spite of all this, or because of it, I am the happiest I have been in my entire life. I wish similar for you.