I had to deal with a bureaucracy today. January featured a lot of that, and as anyone who has ever had to do that for extended periods of time can tell you, it takes a lot out of you. (By design, I would say, but that's a post for another day.) I got done what I needed to, but one does not use the word "accomplished" when talking about this particular organization. I don't feel "job well done" as much as I do frazzled.
So I'm going to focus instead on something I did manage to get done, specifically finally reading and finishing A Hero Born by Jin Yong. I have been meaning to read that for a few years, and finally got it done. It's not the usual kind of story I read, but I see the appeal. If the dialogue were updated, I could see myself reading a lot of wuxia. The skeptic in me will always struggle just a little with fantasy, even as I write it, but this category requires only a little bit of suspension of disbelief.
And great! Knocked that off my list, so now I only have 38 more books to read for 2024. This is less than I've taken on for other years, but I want to get a couple of other things done this year. Also, I don't need the constant anxiety about not getting something done that is supposed to be, you know, enjoyable.
As I've written or at least implied recently, I think "productivity" and "accomplishments" are at best coping mechanisms, at worst scams. Those should not be goals in and of themselves. But if I have to choose between that and talking about my attempts to deal with government bureaucracies? You'd better believe I will be coming here to brag about every title I check off.
Deb in the City
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