Writing about things that matter (to me)
With our family growing, we decided it was time for a bigger family car. Those grins tell you exactly how we feel about it. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to install a carseat.
Side note: I’m still coming to terms with saying goodbye to the Dolphin, my trusty Sonata that’s gotten me around for the past 15 years and 265,000 miles. But I wasn’t going to put a baby in that thing. I can take comfort in knowing that it’s going to a family member.
Here’s to smooth roads ahead.
Marcos Tanaka released an update yesterday for Play, his watch later app, that adds the ability to save links from the Apple TV app and Netflix. This an exciting addition to an already excellent tool.
I’ve written before about using Play to save YouTube videos that I’d like to watch. Now I can create lists that mix YouTube videos with films and series from the TV app, Netflix, and more all in one place! This is going to unlock some really fun use cases for me that I can’t wait to explore further. (I’ve already started using it to save ideas for Up Next picks on Magic Rays of Light.)
Play is available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. It can be purchased on the App Store for $3.
John Voorhees in MacStories Weekly:
Like a lot of our readers, I love digging into an app and trying every feature. However, I also believe in willfully underutilizing apps. As long as the cost of doing so isn’t too high, I’m perfectly content using one or two big features of an app and never touching anything else.
This is something I struggle with often. I find an app I’m interested in, but then I get intimidated if I can’t make us of every feature. Not fully understanding a piece of software gives me imposter syndrome. But as John points out, it’s okay to only utilize certain features of an app and leave the rest alone.
Going forward, I’m going to try to adopt his “complex apps, sparingly used” mantra. It seems like a wise approach.
It’s time to eliminate the “shoulds” from my workflows and embrace what works best for me.
Last week, my family and I said goodbye to my cousin Haven. At 19 years old, he was too young for many of the things that had been thrown his way, and he was far too young to lose his life. He will be missed dearly by his many friends, by his family, and by me.
As I’ve absorbed the shock of his passing, I’ve found myself trying to make sense of it all. To figure out some way of explaining what happened. I think that’s natural. After all, we take comfort in the notion that there’s some sort of logic behind the things that happen to us.
Some say every event that takes place, whether good or bad, is part of a greater plan. That even tragedies make up pieces of God’s purpose. I appreciate the motivation behind this idea, to find meaning in the terrible things that happen to us. But I have to disagree. There are many things that happen in this life contrary to the will of God, which is why God hurts with us when disaster strikes.
I believe that God’s plan for Haven was for him to live an abundant life. That his death is as much a loss for the universe as it is for me. That it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
There is no logic in a kind, beloved 19-year-old with endless potential having his life suddenly cut short. There is no greater plan behind a family in mourning. Despite our best efforts to find one, there is no cosmic reason that our hearts are broken.
The disasters that we face in this life are a result of the broken world that we live in. A world where bad things happen to good people. Where we hurt each other and ourselves. Where we can’t escape the effects of the darkness we’ve created by choosing to live selfishly.
Why do disasters happen? Because we’ve created a world where they are possible.
When I think about this deep brokenness we face, it can sometimes seem like enough to overwhelm me. I feel my own heartache, and I imagine all the other people experiencing loss in their own way. It can feel like too much to bear.
But then I have to remind myself that that’s not the whole story. As dark as this world may seem, there is good in it, too—though it may be hard to see at times. Brokenness doesn’t have to have the final say.
There is beauty in this life. There is grace. There is love. There is so much good, if only we’ll look for it and choose to create it ourselves.
Haven did that. He generated a lot of good in his short life. Attending his memorial, I was surrounded by the many people he’d touched through his kindness, his wit, and his charm. I was reminded of the times that we had together growing up, all the fun and the joy. I saw his love of life and those around him through the memories shared.
Those things are good, and they don’t go away, even in the midst of unimaginable loss. The darkness won’t overcome the light if we don’t let it.
When we’re forced to face the brokenness of this world, we are given a choice: Do we let ourselves become broken by it, too, or do we work to heal it? We can let the tragedies overwhelm us. Or we can make the world a better place for everyone through the way we live.
That’s what I’m inspired to do. My cousin brought light into this world; I will honor him by choosing to do the same.
The truth is that we can’t stop tragedy from coming our way. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the world that we live in. But what we can do is take what we’re given and use it to do as much good as we’re able: to help others, to create beauty, to share love. It’s the closest thing we have to making sense of it all.
And for me, it’s enough.
I had the privilege of appearing on the iPad Pros podcast again to talk about iPadOS 16, Stage Manager, and using my iPad with an external display. Tim and I had a great discussion, and I appreciate him having me on. I hope you’ll check it out!
You can listen to the episode here or search for iPad Pros in your podcast app of choice.
