Today’s Daily Stoic writing prompt: What if I stopped caring what others think?

Another challenging one! The associated meditation encourages us to think about doing what’s right, and the impact and the results, rather than what people will think. I’d modulate a bit: I shouldn’t be doing things to be liked. I should absolutely be thinking deeply not only about what’s right, but rather the actions I take to support that will be received correctly by others. Intentions sometimes do not align with actions, and too little thought can end up with others hurt rather than helped.

But taking this as a larger question: I think it’s something that becomes more possible the older you get. You realize that you need to do things for you. Older people tend to become more and more invisible (particularly women). You can see this as a curse. I see it as a blessing.

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You won’t see this, but I’ve switched out of the “classic” editor on WordPress. When I had to finish up last night’s post on the iPad, it became a real problem that the app did not support the Classic editor. I managed to get in via browser, but it looks like that negatives outweigh the positives here.

I also decided to kickstart my Russian learning skills by going to one of the language training apps (I’ll start using the book I purchased once I get a little farther in, because for me it helps me to learn the language to understand how the words are pronounced.. After futzing around on Duolingo a bit, I got a lead on another language app called Mango. It’s on a subscription basis at $7.99/month, but as it turns out, Hamilton Public Library subscribes, and once I remembered my username (I’d signed up last year and then promptly used the account for pretty much nothing) I got signed in and up and running for free. I’ve made it through the first three lessons. I’m going to see if I can build a habit of going through a few modules a day (maybe five?) with review of previous material as well as new material. The best part is that it has multiple languages, so perhaps I can eventually either add another new language or try to dust off my rusty German or become a little more fluent in French.

Gratuitous Shostakovich reference: the score for the 13th quartet arrived yesterday (pretty impressively quick since it came from Finland, and I have a friend who’s been waiting for a book from there for weeks now–although as you can probably see it got crunched a bit). Besides the fact that it’s my favourite quartet, I love the clever design work of the publications of the DSCH publishing house, which owns copyright on Shostakovich’s works now.

Finished the copyediting on two more chapters of the CWH book. About to go watch Raya and the Last Dragon and to do a little embroidery. I’m happy with the top of my Pallas’ cat’s head, which feels like a bit of a breakthrough, as depicting its ticked fur has turned out to be more challenging than I would have thought.

This was on the CBC tonight. I remembered it from MTV.