Little coding update! Completed the freeCodeCamp projects “Learn HTML by Building a Cat Photo App”, “Learn Basic CSS by Building a Cafe Menu.” This is all familiar stuff, but I always appreciate the reminder to use semantic tags like section & the refresh of how forms work.

It’s hard to feel much like writing these days. I’m going to be building some hand-coded projects and learning more hand-coding stuff, so I’ll be blogging about that process.

What does my body need *right now*?

In Austin Kleon’s newsletter today, he writes about 7 questions he asks himself when he doesn’t know what to do next. (The newsletter has free editions on Fridays and paid ones on Tuesdays.)

At the end of the newsletter he asked his subscribers, “Do you have a question that helps you?”

My response got so big and I liked it so much, I decided to turn it into a blog post, so here you go!

I feel like I have stolen this like an artist in the best way, in that I’ve taken from multiple sources that get at this idea and combined them into something new:

“What does my body need right now?”

I manage multiple chronic illnesses, and the answer to that question can change from moment to moment. I often feel like a brain floating around in a meat cage. So I drop in to my body and see what it needs: water? A nap? A shower? A hug? Stillness? Motion?

Because I can’t do everything I need or want to do, I have to prioritize, and asking this question helps me choose what to do first, what to expend my energy on in a way that gives me hope of sustaining or even increasing my energy for the rest of the day.

Me just now: I think my boots don’t look as cool with the laces looser on the foot and tighter on the ankle.

Also me: Kimberly, you are a middle-aged school librarian. You don’t need to look cool.

Stepping away from timelines and replies for a little while, but still planning to share resources and blog. If you want to be sure I see what you have to say, every post on my website has a Reply by email button.