13 Comments

That is so nice of you, Pavel! Thank you for the recommend as well. Let's stay in contact in 2023. All the best!

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The abundance podcast sounds like a really interesting idea. Will have a listen soon, would probably be interested in coming on for a discussion. Is it just you hosting/organising it or are you collaborating with others?

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And do let me know if you’d like to collaborate in any capacity; there are other pending collaborators too. One person is certainly not enough for this undertaking to succeed, as a routine bottleneck is finding the time required to edit episodes. Anyone reading this who’d like to edit such content - or participate as a contributor - is always welcome to reach out.

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Hi Robert, thank you for recommending On Humanity! And you are definitely invited to be either a guest or a host for this podcast. It is designed to be collaborative: people who know each other can interview one another on the https://abundance.dev/anyhumans/questions and send in recordings to be stored within this community and released according to the guest’s privacy preferences.

A full first episode from last year will be uploaded to https://abundance.dev/anyhumans soon (thus far only a few conversations’ snippets have been released publicly).

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First of all, and late as it is, I am sorry to hear about your grandfather.

Secondly, what a wonderful post! I really enjoyed the month-by-month rundown of events. Superb writing and extremely helpful hyperlinks! :)

You mention that the core of this entry is handwritten in your journal. A question if I may: do you journal daily, weekly, monthly? And how do you approach a huge entry like this? Do you consult individual entries to refresh your memory picking the most interesting sections? I am trying to maintain a good journal schedule but it is not going great, I have to say. Any tips on keeping a good routine, very much welcome.

P.S. Daphne looks very similar to my first fur baby (in Doggie Heaven since 2011...)

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Thank you, Siya!

As for journaling: as much as I wish this were the case, I don’t have either the time or the discipline to journal daily (I normally have quite an involved schedule filled to the brim, and even then there are always unfinished tasks). But I do handwrite in my notebook as frequently as I realistically can. Ideas seem to always pop up, though often at inopportune moments, like during a meal. Perhaps you can relate.

That particular journal entry was written in one go literally during the night after New Year’s Day, but before the “observed” holiday on Jan. 2, and I forced myself to finish the core of it before falling asleep at 3 am. In this case I simply told myself, “if I leave it until tomorrow, it will not get done” (I already had plans scheduled for that Monday). And somehow it worked :)

I did add a number of details and mentions of people I had initially inadvertently omitted while typing it up, though. So my go-to strategy now is letting something simmer for a bit before transferring it from a handwritten entry into a substack post. New thoughts usually arise in-between. How do you approach journaling and/or post preparation?

P.S. I will pass along to Daphne’s parents that their dog is now substack-famous too. Sorry to hear about your first pet’s loss back then. Did a lot of time elapse before you got another one?

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Hi Pavel,

I can! I completely agree. When I finally sit down to expand on the great idea, nothing actually happens. It is rather frustrating.

I have a post planned on the subject of handwriting vs typed up content actually. To briefly address your question here, though, I have found that when it comes to Substack posts, I start them and almost exclusively write them on my laptop (which is normally not the way I would like to work). I think what I am essentially doing is cutting a step from the process which is something I am rather wary of! How often do you post on Substack? I have now gotten into a bit of a rhythm of two posts a week and, in a sense, feel the pressure to deliver. That really impacts the opportunities to let things sit..

Five years passed between losing her and then having another dog; this was partly due to my circumstances (I was a student and in rented accommodations, moving rather frequently), but it was also partly because of guilt (I will probably write a post about that at some point - I have never outwardly vocalised my feelings and maybe Substack is the place to do it). With the loss of my second dog (last July), I was lucky to have had two others. It made it slightly easier...

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I love reading your posts, Pavel. Thanks for the shout-out. Thanks for sharing the year with us. May this year be full of abundance and joy for you. I am reminded of John O'Donohue's writing on seeing more of what you want to see. I definitely want to see more of your writing that exudes the wonderful human that you are :)

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Thank you, Irene! I love O’Donohue’s writing and his book of blessings, as well as his exploration of anam cara, probably the kind of deeper mutual connection many of us crave in life. Looking forward to your continued sharing of wonderful poetry with us all this year, and your other writing and reflections!

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Thanks for this vulnerable post, Pavel. It's been a privilege to bear witness to your continual evolution this past year. May you emerge stronger from your challenges and enjoy camaraderie along your journey always!

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Thank you for bearing witness and your always-supportive words, Nita! I'm continuously impressed by the evolution of your Evolving (ha!) podcast and your level of dedication to it, despite all the challenges you've shared with the world. Let's all make 2023 a year to remember!

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Thanks for this, Pavel!

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A dumpling-making party??? As in, knedlíky? It's been years...

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