Since the launch of dark mode in iOS I don’t think I’ve disabled the feature other than testing. I’ve never been a fan of the constant white used in modern iOS and, although debatable, it saves a bit of battery life by switching off pixels. However apps that don’t customise the way dark mode looks really suck.
There’s much more personal preference that’s needed once you flick the switch to dark mode. Some apps opt for replacing the glaring white for simple black. While others go for dark shades of blue or grey instead. Meaning that apps can show their personality and make theirs stand out, but not always to taste.
Take the above examples of the upcoming 3.0 update to the micro.blog app and Instagram. One of my most used apps micro.blog uses a not very dark blue colour which is not to my taste at all. I’d much prefer the black of Instagram for the app background and this is where dark mode triggers much more personal preference.
Is it enough for me to stop using the app, no, but it’s enough to make me think almost every time I open it that I wish I could change it. Couple this with having a look at Bluesky and thinking their app looks great, I switched into light mode for a bit and what a refreshing change it makes. I’m still not convinced with all the white burning my eyes, but it takes away all these personal preferences and leaves me with good looking apps.
Thankfully a lot of apps give you the option to pick and choose, or even theme the way the app looks. The excellent micro.blog app Gluon gives you the choice to switch to an OLED friendly black background. Drafts, the well liked app for all of your text even offers customised themes and a selection of downloadable options. I just found it strange that I don’t really care about every app using white, or slightly off white, but when it comes to off black - yuck.
I think I get it now. I’ve been asked for years how I manage to write a lot, and I just shrug and think it’s not so hard. Even though my blogging does come and go I manage to have plenty of ideas and publish posts, but not at the moment.
At the minute I feel as if I am blocked from ideas. I feel as if inspiration doesn’t like me, or my brain is now broken. I’ve tried to push through this a few times, just sit in the chair and write something but I end up messing around on social media. Frustrating as it is, at least I don’t have to post - I just enjoy when I do.
I will just keep posting things I find and making short posts waiting for something to strike. For an idea that lasts long enough for post to be written or my motivation improves.
My daughter is the cutest little thing. I know everyone says that about their kids, but here is my submission as proof. Lucie struggles with almost everything, she has what most people call ‘complex needs’. She relies completely on us as a family to help to support her, but she tries her hardest to do whatever one else does.
She has only two loves in the world, shoes, and teddies. Perhaps I come a distant third, but I’m not convinced. Anyway. The world seems to finally be waking up to providing more accessible things like clothes and activities, and along with this comes toys that actually represent disabled people. We found the greatest cuddly toy of all time on Facebook, and Lucie absolutely loves it.
It’s a brightly coloured bunny with a feeding tube, just like Lucie’s. Complete with attachable tube and syringe! When Lucie first saw it, she lifted her top and tapped her button to show that she understood the bunny had one like her. She now carries it around to doctor’s appointments and occasionally when she is hungry, and my heart melts.
It’s remarkable what representation in the things that we see means to people. The bunny is just like her and means she will never feel alone in her struggles.
The arrival times of ideas are strange. Often when I feel like writing, there is nothing ready to come out. Then at other points, ideas come at the wrong times and never get to fruition. Despite thinking about the ideas, and sometimes writing a blog post in my head, they are gone as soon as I get distracted. As I strain myself afterwards, willing my neurones to make the same connections they did before, I am typically led to think about inspiration and where it comes from.
For me, it frequently comes from the strangest places. Occasionally, I do go looking for it, consuming books or watching videos and jotting down some ideas, willing for the ideas to coalesce into a blog post. These can then be incubated and sometimes appear later on, but often times trying to force it doesn’t work. Every so often, it is as if my emotions block me from thinking too deeply about anything.
At the points, quite out of the blue, something will be said in passing and hit me with a burst of energy. A throw away line can cause me to become excited at where my thoughts are going, or pause whatever I am doing and just think for a while. At moments like these, it is not a surprise that some people believe the inspiration for things comes from a magical place. Inspiration regularly doesn’t make sense to me, and when you don’t understand things, it’s easier to blame the gods!
Of course, the inspiration I need to write a terrible blog post is a lot different to the ideas needed for great pieces of art. Writing a book, or creating a masterpiece, requires study, dedication and the using of time wisely. Perhaps when your life is dedicated to such a thing, inspiration strikes much easier, that it is like a skill that needs to be worked on, or a muscle that must be trained.
The fact that my brain can get from one throw away line listening to a podcast, and produce a few hundred words is still a little magical to me, and I hope that never stops.
I forget where I first heard the expression, but I have long held the idea that we are all the same person wearing a different mask. We all arrive in the same state, and sure we might have some biological tendencies toward certain things, but the only separator is life. At any moment, the only difference between us is a combination of our experiences up to that point. For me, that is the most fascinating thing about the world.
I am absolutely fascinated by other peoples thought patterns and the way they think about life. Especially those that have a way of looking at the world that I don’t understand, or agree with. Rather than judging them or dismissing them, I often ask far too many questions because I want to understand them better. This often leads me down a path of discovery and understanding of the reason behind differing options, and questioning myself.
The motivator for this is the question that my Grandfather taught me to think about everyone. “What are they doing that I can learn from”. He would talk to people doing different crafts at Christmas fairs with no intention of doing them. Religious people that came to the door, despite being a devote Christian, and sometimes even people preaching in the street. Even though he understood himself and what he wanted from the world, he would ask questions to learn from everyone else.
Now, I am not one for talking to people in the street, but this constant learning from different people is ingrained in me somehow. Don’t get me wrong, I do walk away from some conversations shaking my head a little, but there is always some understanding to be found. Once you realise that we are all the same person, you can begin to understand why people are they way they are. You can understand why they adopt the view points they do, and then begin to question yourself.
You begin to question the way you look at the world, rather than thinking you are correct all the time. Rather than the imposter syndrome breading environment it sounds like, it leads to an inquisitive nature that is keen to learn more about almost every thought process you have. Which, if I can state some solid grounding for my beliefs, is the best way to look at the world.
By recognising differences, and understanding them, you begin to realise how similar we all are and the superficial bullshit the world seems to use to separate us doesn’t matter in the slightest.