The Thursday Dispatch - 16 July 2026

I’ve been on vacation this week. I’ve needed the time off, as a chance to get away from work and the stress of it all, but also just to get away from people. The last time I took time off, I really needed people and was kinda pissed I didn’t see anyone while on vacation. This time though, I’m good. I’ve enjoyed the quiet, the lack of things to do, and the lack of a real schedule. I had things I thought about doing, then decided I simply didn’t want to. I’ve been good.

I have been fighting off an illness this week, and I’m sure that’s played into my favoritism toward solitude. I also know that my friends are either working or self-preserving for their own reasons. I think with that knowledge, I’ve given myself permission to float at my own pace. I’ve focused on getting better, watching content I enjoy, and hanging out with the cat. I also made enough pasta for a family of eight.

It wasn’t until today that I had any kind of schedule. I did laundry like always, did my therapy appointment, and am now writing like I always seek to do on Thursdays. I still want to squeeze a workout in and probably my personal happy hour. I have a rather full day after not dealing with anything at all for most of the week.

While I’ve taken the time to recharge this week, I’ve also taken the time to analyze and reflect on my approach to things. I’m starting to recognize how my personal life and my work life correlate, especially with how my role at work involves a lot of maintenance of relationships. As someone who has allowed former partners to walk over me a bit, I’ve also realized I’ve done the same at work. In that, there’s the understanding that there’s a need to be comfortable in discomfort in order to get the things I want, again, both in life and work. This means upholding standards that need to be upheld across the board. That’s going to make people uneasy with me who’ve never seen me do this before. But the standard is the standard. God, some people won’t like me. So be it.

Weekly Photo

And this is why I can’t work from home.

Songs in the Chaos

This is my weekly list of songs that either caught my attention or came to mind this past week. I post these throughout the week on a site called Crucial Tracks, where they’re also added to a playlist on Apple Music. Feel free to follow me on either space.