How To Disappear

*An apology

It’s been a month since I have Substack’d regularly.

I wondered if this was a slip in my time management “skills.”

Yes, it is a skill to manage your time.

Here is a peek at my day.

Wake up at 6, but don’t actually move out of bed until 6:30am because there is Wordle to play. Side note: In 2022, CNN asked if Wordle made you smarter? I didn’t need CNN to tell me that no, it doesn’t. Actually, one of the memory specialists pointed out “As soon as you begin using strategies to solve the puzzle, you’ve taken the load off of your attention and memory processes which may lessen Wordle’s potential benefits.” So Wordle, really, is about my ego and whether I can beat the clock.

Back to me. I take Julie out at 6:45. Armed with pepper spray and a noise device to ward off coyotes, I put my headphones on and play a podcast. Mondays, I start with Conan and How Did This Get Made. Tuesday, I will get some Glamorous Trash. Wednesdays, it’s Keep It. Thursdays, The Ankler. Friday, catch up on Fresh Air. Saturday, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Sunday, The Daily Magazine. I stay far away from NEWS.

I used to talk on the phone while walking Julie, but lately, I don’t want to. I definitely do not text when I walk her, because the wildlife here is much like the wildlife in Florida: everywhere.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “podcasts are another form of digital media with potential to positively impact upon mental health.” I would agree. Comedy podcasts, like a How Did This Get Made, completely avoid reality and swim happily in silliness, functioning as an absolute escape.

And then there’s Julie. Walking her multiple times a day, while listening to podcasts, sometimes for a half hour, sometimes for fifteen minutes, completely changes my mood as I begin the day. I am, decidedly, a morning person. I am also an introvert. Strategies that emphasize the value of dog walking for both dogs and people, promote The National Library of Medicine, again, points to how much value walking your dog, or your friend’s dog is a benefit to your life, in general: “the context-dependent repetition of dog walking, enhance the social-interaction benefits, encourage family dog walking, and ensure availability of public space for dog walking may encourage increased dog walking."

For a long time, I hardly looked up when I walked my puppies. It’s only been in the last ten years where I have been able to engage with people who are also walking their pups, or stop to talk to someone wanting to pet mine. There are some days, like this past weekend, where I don’t see a friend or get a phone call from one, where the only people I speak to stand behind a counter. When I walk Julie, not much matters, other than her safety, because I am engaged in the world. I’m getting exercise, I’m saying hi to the locals who see us every day, I’m doing my steps. And those steps aren’t just the ones on my app, it’s those particular steps I’m thinking about as I think about aging, my mental health, my bone health and my health in general.

By 7am, I’ve accomplished a lot.

And when I disappear from Substack, I realize, it’s not that I’m mismanaging my time. It’s just that my time is being used in other ways.

This week, those other ways include me returning to Substack with a great intention. I have missed y’all.