I think we could do with another open thread

[dolorosa_12]

I know it's not Friday, and I know my current open thread is still ticking along, but I think we could do with another one, for reasons that will hopefully soon become apparent.

My practice of doing these open threads was very much inspired by the newsletter of author Amal El-Mohtar, who does a similar thing every week. Because of the time difference (she lives in Canada, so posts at a time which is normally very early Saturday morning for me), I tend to wake up to her newsletters every weekend.

This week's edition asks a question which I found helpful, and restorative, from a mental health perspective, and so I ask it here, again, for anyone who wants to respond:

Tell me about something you want to build or have built this week. Stitches, or baking, or tightening a screw, or writing a letter, or cleaning — something of any size that felt, to you, like building, or solving.


My own answer: I received my overseas ballot for the US election this morning. In the state for which I am a voter, it is possible to submit these by email, so I will be completing the ballot and submitting it in the next few days. When I think of this ballot, and building, it feels to me like building a fragile boat, out of paper, and launching it on a daunting journey across a hostile, unfeeling ocean. It is a hope as small and fragile as that. But still, it, too, is building.

If you feel you have an answer to this question, and it's one you feel like sharing, please do so.

Comments

[nerakrose]

I made sourdough slop and then sourdough bread and the whole thing took DAYS* and patience, and it resulted in an enormous and extremely tasty sourdough loaf.

*more like, 30 hours

[forestofglory]

It's Rosh Hashanah today and I'm making apple honey challah (it's in its final rise right now)

Also today I posted the first chapter of a 20K fic I've been working on for months!

[likeadeuce]

I sat down last night and wrote on a very lightweight low conflict fanfic doc that I have been building on for a while, and occasionally sending snippets to people, but not with any energy to get it FINISHED. And I'm very much used to writing on a deadline (I am dealing with at least 2 different fic deadlines right now) so the idea of just having something I can dip in and out of and think about because it feels good to me (instead of 'oh i will never post this' being a predestined failure) is pretty dang nice!

[ETA: it felt nice to be building a thing for me! though i'm also building on my plans to phone bank in swing state senate races, so i think that being able to have both of those things going AT ONCE is a key piece of balance for me]

[singedsun]

Mine are simple: I'm working on a small altar/shrine in my office, we're moving my husband's office in the basement to a new area and putting it back together with some new touches, and I'm working on a flash fiction story for submission that I've actually overwritten and have to trim down and edit more.