Obey the Spreadsheet
Like many people with schedules that are arguably too flexible, I have consumed a flood of news and opinion in the 48+ hours since Charlie Kirk was shot.
I’ve also started, and re-started, this post a hundred times. Here’s why you didn’t hear from me at the usual time today (5am Pacific): I couldn’t get comfortable with any of my drafts and, for now anyway, I’ve filed them away.
It’s weird for a word person to opt for silence, but over these past two days I’ve watched words serve mainly to whip people up—to make a fraught time even more fraught. In crisis situations, certain public figures have to comment, and I’ve appreciated those who have condemned political violence without equivocation—and without speculation. As for someone like me who’s not a public figure? “Read-only” mode seems like a good idea—at least until more reliable facts emerge and there’s been time to sit with them properly.
Until next week,
Kate
P.S. The photo above is from 2017—a stressful year when my mom was very sick and I had just bought a struggling company. We were going so hard on so many fronts, I feared our kids would be all grown up before we even remembered to take them camping. So I created a spreadsheet populated with 12 overnight hikes, one every other weekend from April through September. Before each trip, we never felt like going—we were way too tired—but I’d run around the house yelling (as much to myself as anyone): “Obey the spreadsheet!” Once on the trail, we were always glad to be there. I’m reminded of this today, because as terrible as the news is, it’s also very difficult—at least for some of us—to look away. Fortunately, I have a new spreadsheet:The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century. If we’re going to get through all of them before our eldest leaves the nest, we’re really going to have to apply ourselves. Signing off to obey the spreadsheet, saluting as I go.
