{"id":6046,"date":"2014-06-03T04:25:36","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T11:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=6046"},"modified":"2014-06-02T20:45:38","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T03:45:38","slug":"dont-just-stand-there-make-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6046","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t  just stand there, make something!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Any time in my life when I have spare time, and things on my mind, I can use a distraction. Not so much an external stimulus type of distraction like seeing friends, but something to keep my mind focused on something other than the inside of my own brain. <\/p>\n<p>A lot of the time, it&#8217;s reading. Lately I find that reading stimulates more writing which leads to more thinking, which can be too much, uh, thinking. There was a proper sentence in there somewhere. Let me know if you see it. <\/p>\n<p>So what to do?<br \/>\nSome people meditate. Some people pray. I make something. <\/p>\n<p>This weekend, I cleaning out the spare room and found a lot of fibery things I&#8217;d not done anything with. So I got out my spinning wheel, pulled some merino out of a bin and made some yarn. It is a little rustic, and I am out of practice&#8230;but it will make a useful and beautiful something or other.  Probably a hat. I make a lot of hats. <\/p>\n<p>Right now, I am trying to work on this green one. <\/p>\n<p>I was on a driving ban after a procedure so I was stuck at home. Spinning and knitting count as doing something productive, so I can do something totally unproductive at the same time without pretending to feel guilty about it. Today it was a movie binge: Maltese Falcon, Meaning of Life and Hard Day&#8217;s Night. <\/p>\n<p>And that means that I am not going to write anymore. I can&#8217;t write and watch the Beatles at the same time. <\/p>\n<p>So ta for now. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813444.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813444.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-183333-66813444.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183332-66812692.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183332-66812692.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-183332-66812692.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813172.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813172.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-183333-66813172.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183334-66814041.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183334-66814041.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-183334-66814041.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813702.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-183333-66813702.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-183333-66813702.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-184441-67481071.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140602-184441-67481071.jpg?w=660&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20140602-184441-67481071.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Any time in my life when I have spare time, and things on my mind, I can use a distraction. Not so much an external stimulus type of distraction like seeing friends, but something to keep my mind focused on something other than the inside of my own brain. A lot of the time, it&#8217;s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6046\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Don&#8217;t  just stand there, make something!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-1zw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6771,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6771","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":0},"title":"Don&#8217;t even think about it","author":"Michelle","date":"July 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute. --F.Dostoyevsky What's the flip side to overthinking everything? Trying not to think about a particular thing. Person. Event. Whatever. Dostoevsky called it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7864,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=7864","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":1},"title":"Shhhh, my mind is resting","author":"Michelle","date":"October 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I have been overthinking even more than usual this week, I am giving my brain a little vacation. Reading, mostly. OK, I know some people don't consider that resting, but I do. For the last several months, I really haven't been able to concentrate enough to read, so I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10438,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10438","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":2},"title":"The sound of silence","author":"Michelle","date":"November 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"If you need to assume anything assume that all silences from now on have grief in them. Rick Moody\/The Albertine Notes Silence is beautiful to me. To an introvert, and I think we've established my credentials in that regard, silence and solitude are\u00a0 nearly as essential as air and water.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Random thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4051,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=4051","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":3},"title":"An argument about mind reading","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you want to get together later? Yes. ... ... Yes, and? ... ... Yes, I want to get together later. ... ... Shall I read your mind to divine where you would like to meet and where you would like to go? Could you? Ass. It would be really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11126,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11126","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":4},"title":"An imaginary conversation about obsessing","author":"Michelle","date":"February 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Should I accept that I am someone who obsesses over things or try to change it? That's quite a launching point for a chat. Sorry. Hi. How are you? Good thanks. You? Obsessing. You? Shaking my head. Thanks for asking. You're welcome. You're weird. No shit. What are you obsessing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Imaginary Conversation&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Conversation","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1929,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=1929","url_meta":{"origin":6046,"position":5},"title":"Thinking about thinking","author":"Michelle","date":"October 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Think, think think Let your mind go Let yourself be free --Aretha Franklin\/Think \u00a0 You mind is made up but your mouth is undone. --Elvis Costello\/Accidents Will Happen \u00a0 I've run across the phrase \"disordered thinking\" several times recently at work. It considered a bad thing to have disordered thinking.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}