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Actually putting aside the time and making the mental space necessary to start/return to conversations with all your friends around the world instead of just texting the same 3 people.
I’m terrible at this, but whenever I remind myself to do so it feels like I’ve once again tripped on life’s fundamental truth.
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I’ve been the worst at texting throughout my entire life and even still part of me resents the idea that I should be available for constant communication (but I tell her to shut up because I do actually enjoy connecting with my friends all of whom live far away).
I had a new friend who would text me constantly and at first I thought it was annoying but eventually I got used to it (then I went back to thinking it was really annoying but that was a her being annoying problem). I became really good at texting back and now I’m the person who assaults my friends who tell me they want to get better at texting with regular text messages.
I stopped interacting with my friends as much through our weird obscure social media app and started just texting them directly. When I think about someone or if there’s something I think they need to hear from me I text them! I’m also in a very high-volume group chat with two of my best friends. It’s something that I think only gets better with constant practice and action and intention!
I also think it’s worth just setting clear boundaries around text communication that sometimes or even oftentimes you are not going to respond right away. People know that I’m pretty busy and I’ll talk to them when I have time. And I make good use of heart/thumbs up/exclamation point reacts to show that I’m paying attention without replying ASAP. And try schedule sending texts if you don’t want to text right away and have to deal with more replies lol!
Also sometimes if I don’t feel like typing I send my friends voice messages and we often end up in a chain of voice messages from there like role playing executives and employees at a factory in the Deep South that explodes and devastates the town and then being the newscasters covering the story and then being waitresses and patrons at Merlotte’s from True Blood gossiping about it. Or whatever.
Oct 19, 2024
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We don’t write letters anymore so I think that texting is the closest we have to regular written communication (which I actually value and enjoy in moderation).
I see and feel the downsides to texting too much. And I have done a lot of work on responding to people slower and taking more thought and time into it. With this said, I have noticed that many of my friends will initiate conversations with me only to never respond.
I think the ways you communicate can be important examples of how you’re considering your loved ones.
Nov 21, 2024
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especially to people i don’t have the luxury of seeing irl as often as i’d like… its such a small way to keep long distance communication more interactive + personal <3 :-)
Apr 14, 2024
Top Recs from @paul
Bruce transforms a great early Tom Waits song into one of the greatest love songs of all time in a euphoric hometown live performance. An unselfconscious affirmation of the transcendent love that exists between the cracks of the day to day, and a reminder that the feelings we share for each other are what make life worth living <3
P.S.
You can hear the crowd scream with joy at every mention of a New Jersey landmark… beautiful.
Feb 14, 2024
Difficult though it may be for the old vanguard to accept, I believe most if not all vital innovation in the jam band format is coming from the industrial electronic musical sector.
Autechre are a great example of one such band who - late in their careers - have released dozens of hours of improvisatory and fresh takes on old material performed live and categorized by the year and city in which the performances took place.
These recordings are then - of course - fawned over and endlessly analyzed by obsessive devotees and electro-hippie freaks who collect, distribute, and bootleg them along with whatever other unreleased or previously unknown material they can independently gather.
It is, as ever, a brave new world, and change is confusing, but if you listen with an open mind you’ll surely find yourself entranced by Autechre’s Psycho-Electronic Experimentations …. Peace and Love✌️
Feb 6, 2024
Mar 8, 2024