What is this?

This is Now, a sort of point-in-time check-in that I learned about from Chris Glass’s blog. Check out other Now’s.

This moment catches me at a moment when I’m a month into my 40s, working fully remote for an org secondarily affected by the Trump administration, and feeling the exhaustion from a predatory President seeking to dismantle our society.

For this Now, I’m going to break this up in the PIES framework I’ve used at work. PIES = Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Spiritual (or Motivational).

Physically

Physically, I’m doing well! I’m on day 70 of a 100-day streak using Peloton.

Speaking of Peloton, I feel years late to the game. I now get the excitement during the pandemic! I ride almost daily with my friend Ethan who keeps me at a brisk pace and I connect my Apple Watch to my Apple TV set up to do strength and stretching classes in my living room. As a fully remote guy, Peloton keeps my lunch break active and I have no excuse to put in the work.

I’m also taking a break from alcohol since the Eagles won the Super Bowl. This has done wonders for my sleep, resting heart rate, and energy levels.

Intellectually

My favorite habit I’ve developed is to wake up at 5am and read. I completely failed when I built it in as a nighttime activity. Now I’m already on my fifth book of 2025 and going to significantly outpace my reading in the year prior.

Not only am I reading more, but I’m reading more fiction, and my brain is more awake and focused when I begin work at 7am. Bonus points for the winter season when I brew coffee and get back in bed to enjoy the warmth as long as possible.

On a different note, I’m not as focused as I’d like. I don’t know if it’s Everything Going On, but generally I’m less motivated.

Emotionally

Emotionally, I can put in some work. Once or twice a year I fall into a slump. It’s nothing terrible, and I don’t beat up on myself for it, but in these moments I tend to go more into hermit mode and cancel plans.

I don’t think there’s a single event that triggered this. I think I’m simply in a reflective period and in these periods I prefer to be alone more than usual and will restrict social activities to those in my very inner circle.

I am aware but not concerned.

Spiritually/Motivationally

I have two motivations at the moment.

First, I want to get more engaged in my local community. I’m currently the board chair for RiseUp Community School, a justice-oriented high school that serves students who want to thrive outside of a traditional classroom environment. But ever since my time as a Mayoral appointee I want to get engaged in city-level work. I hope to accomplish this soon.

My other motivation is to focus on my health. I love exercise for managing stress and anxiety and I want to expand my scope to put more attention toward sleep and nutrition. I think once I set specific goals I’ll be more likely to be successful.

What I’m Enjoying

Sci-Fi Renaissance: I’ve been binging — and loving — Severance (Apple TV+), Dark Matter (Apple TV+), and Three Body Problem (Netflix).

Fiction: As I said earlier, I’m reading much more fiction than usual. All Fours, Lincoln in the Bardo, and There,There have been page turners.