A 50-something French dude that’s old enough to think blogs are still cool, if not cooler than ever. Also, I like to write and to sketch.
https://thefoolwithapen.com/
Antidote. From Druide Informatique is a great set of spellcheckers (and gramamtical guides) for French and for English.
Alas, a few years ago they dropped their Linux version. Also, it’s not from the EU but from Canada… which has not yet been invaded by the USA.
Edit: too many things to list, I’m tired (and I don’t have Antidote on my Linux machine)
Now I’m seeking advices from people who turned their life in a positive way by writing journals as a first step
I’ve been journaling since I was a 7-8 years old boy (now nearing my 60s). Don’t worry about pausing your journal. It’s not a job, it’s your journal. If it can be compared to anything, it’s a tool. You don’t always carry your hammer with you when you don’t need it, right? Neither do I. So, I’ve had plenty breaks where I did not use my journal at all. Ranging from a few days to a few… years. That’s fine. I know my journal is there, when I need it.
Not blaming yourself for not journaling can also make it simpler to get back to it. I mean, if you don’t feel bad for not writing in your journal you will not hesitate to re-open it and start writing in it again.
It doesn’t matter for how long I’ve not been using it, I never feel bad starting again. IN reality it even feels great as it’s a lot more like meeting one of my best friends I had lost touch with for a long time, and we’ve so much to tell!
Now I’m seeking advices from people who turned their life in a positive way by writing journals as a first step.
That’s a bit vague to suggest anything.
What I can say is that it helped me all my life. When I was a little boy going through what people nowadays would call some serious trauma, as a teen going through that thick and seemingly endless stupidity period I was stuck in, as a young adult when I decided to change life (I quit my well-paying job and decided to live a much more simple (and poorer) live). And so on, up to this day. It also helps me face mistakes I can make. It helps me even for more mundane things… simply by allowing me to take a step back from whatever it is I’m journaling about, allowing me to look at it more calmly, to think about it in a non-emotional way (or less emotional).
Like you already realized it’s great to feel more in control too.
It also helps me keep track of stuff I simply want to remember in the long run. Last but not least, it helps me be more present too. How? Journaling helps me be more attentive and so does sketching which I also do in my journal—badly and, exactly like making pauses, I’m 100% fine with that.
What helps me journaling almost daily nowadays is that I made it as simple as possible: I don’t try to make nice sentences. I don’t mind making mistakes and crossing out stuff. It’s a work-in-progress that will never be finished. One day, I will be gone and I won’t be able to write that one last sentence: ‘today, I died.’ ;)
For years, I had been using some a digital tool of some sort (word processor, journaling app, voice recorder, whatever) but I’ve come back to the analog way, good old pen and paper, because I never felt the same connection using digital, and because I don’t feel confident writing what are sometimes my most intimate thoughts into something that is connected to the Internet or worse, that is stored online, an app that can read what I write and do god knows what with it.
My journal stays at home. So, to journal on the go (which I always do) I use a small pocket notebook I carry with me. Somethig xheap with a cheap ballpoint pen I don’t mind losing. Later on, I copy whatever is in that pocket notebook to my ‘real’ journal. To make it quick to write on the go I don’t write full sentences in that pocket notebook, I use my own shorthand I devised along the years.
If you have other (more specific) questions, feel free to ask them.
BTW, you (and anyone else reading this) are more than welcome to join the !journaling@sh.itjust.works community. I’m the admin and I would love to see more people share their experience/doubts/questions, like you just did. Hopefully that would motivate others to start doing it as well.
we don’t have a TV in our home. So, no TV in our bedroom either ;)
I would not.
Even if the law made it my duty to do so, I would not comply (aka the law can go fuck itself). It’s family. Family is at the base of everything else, including civil society (with all its laws, and all its crimes). There is no way I will report any member of the family, for anything.
It doesn’t mean I blindly agree with anything stupid my family could do (certainly not) nor that whatever ‘bad’ they may do shouldn’t be dealt with. It just means that it’s not (civil) society’s business.
Actively ruining the ecosystem and the climate, two things we probably cannot survive as a species without them working smoothly, so we can all buy new phones and clothes and help less than a handful of us to become even richer than they already are.
Imho, that’s an impressive demonstration of our stupidity and one of the most impressive species-level suicide I can think of. Even dinosaurs were not that stupid and they needed a meteor to hit the planet for them to be wiped out from its surface. Something we humans are working real hard to manage doing all by ourselves.
To our credit, I should say those few already very rich people will indeed be reaching unheard-of levels of richness. And while helping them do so we will get our new shiny phones and new fashionable clothing. Yeah, I suppose.
I understand. Hopefully someone will be able to suggest something more useful ;)
When I go some place I tell my spouse I’ll be there. Are you looking for something more specific in ‘sharing you location’?
We use desk and reading lamps, most being 24w LED a few 12. We don’t use much ambient light… beside the sun, coming by the windows ;)
Depends when (do I have enough money) and to whom.
I’ve donated all my adult life, for me it’s a way to contribute back, to support, or just to say thank you. But I must also say that in the last decade or so I’ve started donating less to some of them, and have also completely ended my support to a few. Why? Because many charities have started too hard to push their political/ethical/moral agenda.
Among those I constantly support: the French Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, local food banks too. I will give them money for as long as I’m able to. Like I do to a few other local charities too. I’ve also started donating to my local catholic church (if anyone is wondering, I’m not a catholic I don’t even believe in god) because I think they’re doing real cool stuff to help people that need help and they do it without forcing them to adopt their faith, or whatever.
Wikipedia too, just not yearly. I donated the kind of money I used to spend on print encyclopedia before Wikipedia was a thing just not yearly exactly like I used to not buy a new encyclopedia every year ;)
I also donate to Free/Libre Software projects and devs too (I don’t care much open source itself, it’s the promised freedom that seduced me as a user) provided they don’t ask to adhere to some sort of moral code of conduct in order to use their app or code or whatever. I know this is unpopular stance and that’s fine with me. To make it clear: it doesn’t matter if I agree (or not) with those moral values they’re promoting. My issue is that I think freedom (of usage) is about freedom (of usage) and it should not be freedom (of usage) as long as the dev is ok with what one is using it for, or who one is, or what one thinks, or what one likes. So, if that’s what they’re promoting I won’t oppose it but I certainly will not be supporting it.
Given the volume of writing I do, I don’t think hand-writing is feasible.
I write everything longhand. Many people have been writing entire books longhand, and have been doing it for centuries. And a few of us still do ;)
The last few years average out to about 2000 words a day, and most of it is done on computers where I can comfortably type for long periods, and much faster than I could write by hand.
Depends what you want to write, but speed may not be the key elements. Obviously, with tight deadlines from your publisher it may be a valid point but (I’m 50+) along the years I realized I would save more time by writing slowly but then spend less time rewriting/editing (less, as editing is still an essential part).
All of that to say: sure, digital technology may be a great help but it is not a necessity (unlike what big tech want us to believe). Tolstoy did not use a computer, neither did Flaubert, Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, nor did Nietzsche or Plato (to name just a few authors that have written a lot). It’s mostly a question of habits, aka developing the hand, arm and shoulder muscles used to write, and of endurance: the more you will write by hand, the longer you will be able to write without feeling too much fatigue. And of organization—aka, how you take your notes and maybe how your organize them. When I draft a text or take notes on the go, something I do every single day of the year, I use my own shorthand which helps me saves a lot of time. I also organize all my notes (research and personal alike) in an analog system that has been formalized many years ago: Zettelkasten. It works wonders and, in its way, it’s easily ‘searchable’.
One last suggestion: using the right writing tool may help a lot in reducing fatigue too. Have you tried using a decent fountain pen (with good quality paper)? But enough about handwriting :p
If you’re using iCloud, have you activated the optional Apple’s Advanced Data Protection? It ensures that no one, supposedly not even Apple can read your files on iCloud.
For anything digital (I draft longhand but I still need to type the final version), the moment I became privacy-conscious, my solution was to switch from Mac to a Linux PC, with full disk encryption. With This Linux PC there is no tracking and no telemetry (I was horrified to realize the volume of data that was send back to Apple by my Mac, it’s easy to test it: install LittleSnitch and tell it to not let apple’s services connect to the web. Sure most of it is probably fine. But probably was not enough for me) and I can use VSCodium (a Microsoft-free version of VSCode) for Markdown and LibreOffice Writer for word processing. For cloud storage, I would suggest Filen.io a small German company that offers zero knowledge end-to-end encryption.
I think many dedicated journaling apps (like DayOne on iOS/Mac) do offer password-protection but I have no idea how reliable it is. I would rather trust some Free/Libre software and the community to tell me what is safe.
BTW, feel free to come say hi to our small !journaling@sh.itjust.works community (I’m the admin). As an analog user myself, I would love to have more digital users participating. Well, to be perfectly honest I would love to have more people participating, digital or not ;)
Well regular soldiers also get hired to do that, the big difference is the employer, as a regular soldier you’re employed by the state, as a mercenary by a private entity.
Mercenary business is always at least a little shady, since they often get used for shady stuff.
I will quote myself:
It’s not a regular soldier (belonging in some nation’s army) but like more like a private contractor, hired by some nation, a private corp, a private group or even by wealthy individuals.
hired to do military activities (more or less openly, more or less legally)
I think we agree, right? ;)
it’s someone that is getting hired to do military activities (more or less openly, more or less legally). It’s not a regular soldier (belonging in some nation’s army) but like more like a private contractor, hired by some nation, a private corp, a private group or even by wealthy individuals.
(Going to talk about arabs here, for example.) Since most arabs on reddit complain about how all pro-palestine content is heavily censored and how it’s consistently enshittifying. But i mean this might be diminishing returns, but at the same time i find it insane that there are only 6 (afaik) arabs meanwhile there are whole instances for french/german/chilean/italian/etc
Maybe all what’s needed is for someone to start?
I [think] i get along okay with everyone else,
I certainly don’t, but I’m old(ish) and grumpy :p
i do miss having other arabs to talk to on lemmy. This isn’t too big of a problem, but would be nice to solve :-)
I would not blame you for trying ;)
What do you think would be the response?
If I was invited to change my habits, my first question would be: why? What could I do I can’t already do on reddit? Or for what reasons would I want to do the same thing on that Lemmy-thing? Imho, you should prepare some reasons for them to be willing to change their habits and give Lemmy a try. Without that, you’re seriously reducing your chances.
Pessimistic-me would also think focusing on ethnicity/country or anything along those lines would immediately open the door to endless issues and quarrels between users considering one must be living in the country, other saying one should be of such or such origin or whatever else, while others say it should be enough to have been born there, or to to have been living there at one time. But, hey, that’s just pessimistic-me.
What communities would we do?
That’s up to you, obviously. I wouldn’t do any because I don’t care much about ethnic/origin/nationality (or gender or faith) and I can’t recall any time I felt closer (or further away) to anyone because of such reasons. I care a more about what’s brewing between that person’s ears and depending what’s brewing, I will feel closer or not so close to them ;)
spouse is a great help ;)
Like the others: don’t. It will most probably be too much of a burden, for him most certainly (he already told you not to do that, it could be a costly mistake to ignore that explicit demand) and, I would imagine, It will be painful for you too even though you may think otherwise, for now. Believe me: you don’t know.
(old fart mode ON)
Being in a couple does not mean being together all the time, imho that would be the surest way to shorten the life expectancy of most couples. And that’s coming from someone that has been with their partner for 25+ years and counting.
Also, like already mentioned in other comments if you want him to grow and become an adult, let him have experiences and make friends on his own. It is is essential and, yes, that also undoubtedly includes a fair share of bad and harsh experiences too… For him, as well as for both of you as a couple.
Our own couple is holding nicely not because we’re perfect my spouse and I, we are not. Quite the contrary. And certainly not because I (over) protect her from the outside world. She would massacre me if I tried to act like that. We’re sticking together because we know we can work (better) together to make things work no matter what’s happening and because we enjoy being a couple, aka we appreciate being together without constantly being glued together all the time or constantly trying to tell the other what they should do ;)
Really, don’t be afraid to let your friend get hurt and feel lost. Like a baby learning to walk or anyone learning to ride a bike… feeling afraid and falling down (and getting hurt) is a legit part of the teaching/learning process. There is no other way to learn… anything that is worth learning.
(old fart mode OFF)
Clicking the link should not say anything special when you land on the page (which is rather dumb) but once you create your account you should get double the base free storage (20 instead of 10). I don’t recall them announcing any change in that policy.
That’s the fundamental problem with your post,
If you say so. Thx for the useful insight.
trackballs, the arguably superior input method.
As a mouse user, I vehemently contest that unfounded affirmation!
That being said, you have already managed to make me pull out of its drawer my old trackball and put a fresh battery in it. So, who knows? Maybe trackballs are not all worthless plastic gimmicks? Joined! :p
You’re welcome.
Perfectionism is the enemy of creativity, which journaling can be considered a form of but that’s true of any form of writing. Perfectionism will often be used as an excuse to not finish/publish a text. I learned at a very young age to say to my own perfectionism to fuck off. Even for simple stuff like commenting here on lemmy I’m OK with publishing posts/comments in English (which means that they contain even more mistakes than they would have in my native French), I’m ok with mistakes and I can always edit the ones I see later on. I’m also ok with not having a fully articulated expression of what I really want to say (for that you would need to read and me to write in French). And that’s true for any other published work, not just here on Lemmy (I may have been writing for a living, younger).
As far as I’m concerned, I consider perfectionism one of my worst enemy. I see it as my own fear of realizing I’m far from being as good I imagine I am ;)
So glad to know that!
Don’t be afraid (really) to try letting go of that perfectionism. Worst case: it won’t help you. But if it does help you, you will never regret getting rid of that shit feeling.
A warning before you try anything new: you need to be prepared, like be OK in you head, like for real because it’s the most likely outcome, with the idea that you will fail at doing it, that will fail the first time, and maybe the second time and maybe more. And even if you don’t fail, you may be ok with doing something great either. That’s not an issue. That’s how you begin. That’s how anyone begins. Trying to get rid of that shit feeling of perfectionism you will indeed fight years-long education and habits. It’s not just an on/off switch so be ok with that ;)
We now live in an age that hates failing and is in absolute adoration before perfectionism(at least as much as it is in adoration before money). That is the most stupid thing ever conceived; And it is even more so for all the kids that are being taught that. Because, simply put, failing is essential part of leaning. I would even say failing is the only legit way to learn anything that is worth learning.
How did you learn to walk? By walking a marathon or running a sprint like some athlete or was it by falling on your diapered toddler bum one clumsy step after another, over and over again? Yeah, not that brilliant but be assured that was the exactly the same with me. How did you learn to write? By writing poetry that put to shame dear Shakespeare at your very first attempt? Or by making a shit ton of mistakes, and by writing each letter clumsily one at a time, and then, after years of practice, by realizing you were indeed able to write your first (but still rather poorly worded) real sentences? So did I. And I experience that with every single language I learn(ed), even more so with non-Latin languages. And how did you (maybe?) learn to kiss, and more? Don’t tell me you were at the top of your art from your first kiss, and that you were a perfect lover the first time too because I certainly wasn’t (and, decades later, still am not ;)
Failing and then trying to understand how and why, and how to avoid repeating the exact same mistake, is at the core of learning and therefore should be at the core of any quality teaching too. Not telling kids they’re perfect and all they do is amazing. That’s bullshit. Alas, it’s that bullshit that is now the norm. Heck, teachers in schools nowadays are even afraid to give poor grades to students as that could be traumatizing for the kids… forgetting that’s it’s the sole purpose of giving a grade: to assess the level of assimilation of whatever the student was supposed to have studied. Sad state of affair out of which the real losers here are those students that don’t learn essential knowledge and skills anymore. They’re the ones that are being screwed up.
Sorry, for that rant. It’s something that worries me a lot to watch so many younger people being frozen by the fear of failing despite being at the very age where they should happily be taking so many fucking risks and be daring of trying the most stupid shit. I also worry a lot realizing those younger ones are very quickly becoming unable to read and write, or to do simple math. Meaning they aren’t able to learn and understand much by themselves, and less and less able to communicate whatever thought, emotion, or idea they may wish to share.
To get back to your situation: your journal is not a work of art that will end up exposed in art galleries nor in a museum, maybe you will do stuff that will end up exposed and studied, no one can predict the future, but they should not be your journal. That journal is one of the tools in your toolbox with which you will do what you want with your life. It’s also a work in progress. Use it, abuse it, experiment in it, break it as often as you feel like it. In a few decades, when you will look back at your old journals, you will be happy you have tried (and failed) so many times at so many things. And I’m willing to bet you will be happy to have kept a record of all those failed and imperfect attempts of yours ;)