Time is often on my mind. The fact it’s the most precious resource we have. How time is the great equalizer: it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, a malevolent billionaire or an unpaid volunteer: you have the exact same amount of minutes and hours available in any given day. We’re all the same in this respect. (Sure, single parents who need to have 2 jobs for basic survival have a great deal of stress compared to a wealthy retiree, but let’s not nitpick for this exercise, ok?)
Earlier this morning I posted this message to Mastodon:
To people despairing about the state of the world, let me help put things in perspective, time-wise. As the mom of a child turning 4 this week, I know very well how long 4 years feel.
Friends who are parents would tell me: “the days are long but the years are short.” It’s absolutely accurate.
I say: make this time matter.
In 4 years my child learned to walk, talk, became fully fluent in 2 languages and is now a LEGO wiz.
How will you use these next 4 years?
When the worst people in the world are running a large, powerful country, with mainstream media normalizing their horrid behavior, it is normal to feel despair. Even if, like me, you’re on the other side of the Atlantic. There is a natural sense of powerlessness taking over.
This morning I was thinking that I’m a little envious of my daughter because she’s completely shielded from these events. She’s a French/Italian little girl growing up in Paris. She has no idea about what is happening and she cannot read yet or put events in a historical context.
The next four years – dreadful for us adults – hold exciting opportunities for her. At the end of the current kakistocracy, come January 2029, my child will be 8 years old. In the four years to come she will learn to read and write. The time span from 4 to 8 is one of expansive learning. I’m privileged to be by her side, guiding her. And I’m also taking this time to learn.
Last month, on December 5th, I published the blog post “Introducing: my so-called sudo life“, discussing my plans to rebel against oligarchs and tech barons.
I wrote:
In the days following November 6th I sketched a plan – for my own self care: set 4 goals for the next 4 years – 2 internal (self-improvement) and two “external” (helping others).
Goal number 1 was “learning Linux” so I could eventually self-host my own Fediverse instance. I wrote this on December 5th, signed up for a virtual private server (VPS) on December 17th, installed the federated microblogging software GoToSocial on December 22nd, and I’ve been running my own Fediverse instance for a month now. Last week I started self-hosting photos via the platform Pixelfed (an alternative to Instagram). So: goal 1 has been already accomplished! I thought it would take at least 3 years, but all it took was less than 3 weeks. All credit goes to YunoHost, a system that allows people with little to no technical knowledge to self-host, with crystal clear, easy to follow guides.
Goal number 2 was learning a new foreign language. I’m already fully fluent in Italian (my mother tongue), English and French. In my blog post I hesitated between Spanish and Japanese. Well, earlier this week I made my choice. For MAXIMUM impact I’m going with Spanish, a language spoken by 500 million people. Japan will always have a soft spot in my heart, so I may pick up again learning hiragana, katakana and kanji, but Spanish could really help with my Fediverse evangelism.
Goal number 3 is preparing presentations about the Fediverse for schools – and making those widely available for others, in case they wanted to tweak/re-use them. I have yet to start that, but it’s my big goal for 2025.
Goal number 4 is: “help make the Fediverse a more diverse place, safer and more welcoming for people of color.” GoToSocial and its granular settings have been eye-opening when it comes to creating a safe space for oneself online. Naturally I will keep on working and advocating for this goal in the coming years.
A MIM system
I’ve created a very simple system to keep track of my progress: I call it my MIM (make it matter) system. What is it? It’s just a calendar printout on which I write my actions. This is a powerful reminder of the things I have done and the progress I’ve made. I like how tangible and empowering it feels to be filling it out (instead of having an electronic version of it). I’ve color-coded it so items in yellow refer to my self-hosting efforts, pink ones are related to the books I’m reading and those in pastel blue are articles I have published.
It looks like this:
What about you, what do you have in store for the next four years?
– Elena
P.S.: I’m now hosting all my links here: elena.social
@ele We all have the same time, but no, it's not an equalizer, in fact the opposite. Rich folks get the time, they pay others to cook, clean, child care, drivers, food delivery, etc. Regular, non rich people labor during those same hours. There is no free time.
@ele
Ah, to be young again and have your energy! I recently came across a calendar I kept from when I was in my late 20's. Married w/ a one yo, pregnant with my 2nd, and commuting an hour each way to business school to get an MBA. Oh, and I was pregnant with #2 and also had a side hustle. I am so happy to hear your empathy and connection to the fight here in the US. It's ours first and foremost but we are really in a global fight: fascism v democracy.
Thanks for your posts. Inspiring!
@ele This is great! I've moved off corporate social media and I'm in the process of de-googling. I'm completely trapped in an MS world at work, but I'm affecting change where I can. I'm also doing my best to include my kids in this adventure, so they are able to think critically about smartphones and all the apps vying for their attention. I'm becoming more and more interested in digital sovereignty, but I appreciate most folks on the street have zero interest in things like this.
Thank you Carol! You’ve got all my support from across the Atlantic. It’s our one world.
On a side note: I’m super impressed by everything you managed to do (MBA, side hustle, with a young child and another on the way). Bravissima! Truly inspiring.
@ele That's good advice. Setting achievable goals and acknowledging that you achieved them is so important.And yes, time is so important. 😶 Especially with kids I notice that I want to do so much but have little time.What are my goals for the next 4 years?…1) Finish renovation the upper floor of the house so that the kids have their own rooms2) Make my Nextcloud instance setup better3) Get the class chatgroup from WA to NC Talk4) Start a TTRPG course at the local youth club
Wonderful goals!
@ele
One goal I've set for myself was to move away from for-profit companies to more ethical alternatives, preferably coops. There's not always good options, but even then I try to be conscious of what the better options are. I don't rush it, but after a couple of years I've switched most things I wanted to and it feels pretty liberating.
Thank you for sharing your journey :blobfoxheart:
@eleI have nothing in store for the next four years. I usually live from day to day, enjoy the present and don't set goals for the future.
@ele ❤️ this. Thank you! We get older every day. It’s so much more rewarding when we can associate accomplishments with the passing time.