“Lower your expectations.” That’s what Glennon Doyle said on NPR this morning and it was the piece of advice I’ve been looking for. A simple and direct statement recommending a specific thing I can do to feel better right now.
So, I’ll try to do some productive things I’ve been too busy to do during this unplanned time at home, but I might just squander the time on silly phone games. I might learn to draw, or I might just binge watch Mary Tyler Moore. I might spend time playing chess with family, or I might just show them cute animal videos I saved on Facebook. I might lower my expectations of myself, or I might just forgive myself for not quite living up to unreasonably high expectations during this extended period of isolation.
In an effort to embrace the idea of lowering self expectation, I haven’t made anything new. But I have managed to flip through all of my pictures since 2018 to find the ones that made me feel most chill. Here’s a gallery of 42 happy peaceful things, in no particular order, without captions or context. Peace ✌🏽
