what's in this email:

Friday September 18, 2026

9:30 AM

Greetings Thinkers,

Alright, I'm ready to get out of beach and trip mode.

I have been feeling like the emails haven't been great, while also not feeling sure about what makes the emails good in the first place. Whatever it is or is not, I am ready to be done talking about the beach trip here for now. So if you've been feeling that too, this is for you too.

Also back to the morning!

Good morning to you Thinkers!

At least I hope it is good for you. Hope used intentionally with all its uncertainty and lack of confidence; I do HOPE your morning is good. But I have no real idea and no control over if it is or not. (recall: hope as bad for you)

you deserve it

Some thoughts on this phrase and the word deserve as I have come back from "vacation" on other people's eyes.

And a reminder about a theme of character: Kym has a tendency of disdain for certain words.

vacation, deserve, hope, are among that list. For now, some thoughts on vacation and deserve.

You've likely heard me talk about disvdain for vacation before. It's similar to my days of the week thing. I don' look forward to the weekends because I like to think I don't save the kind of life I really want for certain days of the week. Same goes for vacation. I like to think I don't save the life and things I really love to do for 1 or 2 weeks of the year. I also say: I don't want to need a break from my life (that's what "vacation" means to me) . I don't want to want or "need" a break from my life, thus I don't do vacation.

Taking a trip is (just) part of my life. And l like to live the parts of my life that are on on trips, as well and good as the trips.

Sure not entirely possible, but there is an important distinction here which is "just" that I strive to not live a life I look forward to small parts of my life. The breaks and vacations. That's the essence of this.

now about deserve. Why do I have beef with the word deserve. I don't think I've worked this one out before, so this may be a first.

I think it has something to do with defining or qualifying deserve, and defining and qualifying are probably the main reasons I have beef with any and all words that end up on the "Kym doesn't like that word" list.

How do you really define that / says who - are the key questions for such words.

Who says I deserve a vacation? Why precisely have I earned it?, assuming EARN and DESERVE go hand in hand?

I feel "you deserve it" is one of those canned things we say. Sure you can say a canned thing and really mean it, but you can also say a canned thing and have underthought it. And if both can be the way it's said, how do you determine which way it's meant? And is that up to the sayer of the message or the experiencer of the message?

You deserve a break.
You deserve the vacation.
She deserves the raise, the nice meal, the extra piece of cake.

What other kinds of things do we say DESERVE about?

Deserve gets interesting once you stop treating it as an automatically positive word. “You deserve a vacation” sounds like a good thing, but hidden in there is a little accounting system: you worked hard enough, therefore pleasure has now been earned. And I say - says who? Who defines? If it's you, did you ?!

deserve: to be worthy of, entitled to, or appropriately due something because of one's actions, qualities, or circumstances.

It implies a kind of moral ledger:

effort → reward
goodness → good outcome
wrongdoing → punishment

That's surely useful in some circumstances. Someone may truly deserve credit or reward for work they did or a wrong doing may deserve criticism or consequence.

But it gets strange when we apply it to ordinary human "goods":

You deserve rest.
You deserve happiness.
You deserve this vacation.
You deserve love.

because if you apply it this way, you also have to apply it in the inverse, the opposite.

If you haven't earned the vacation, you don't deserve it?
Rest must be deserved before it can be taken?
Love must be deserved before it can be had. and so on .

Then what about deserving vs. needing or for Kymology it would always be deserving vs. wanting. Isn't wanting good enough?

And the most interesting for last, the DARK PROBLEM with using deserve the common way. If every "truth" has an equal and opposite truth ( the when is it which of it)

“Everything happens for a reason.”, “You get what you give.” “Good things happen to good people.” Karma.

If good fortune is evidence that someone deserved it, aren't we also implying that bad things happen because you deserved it too?

where is the line drawn to decide?

And yes, it's not lost on me that this is just a nice thing said. And you also know I think that nice things said can have insidious often unconscious consequences.

What do you think?

and NOT another end of day email.

🔺

KG

​All the emails in a list ​

standouts / other thoughts

... I yearned for the short term routine I just came from

​
word of the day

deserve: to be worthy of, entitled to, or appropriately due something because of one's actions, qualities, or circumstances.

"The word came into English through Old French deservir, from Latin deservire — roughly “to serve diligently” or “serve well.” That history is revealing: deserving has long carried a relationship between what you've done and what should consequently come to you."

quote(s) to consider

To deserve is a human accounting system;
how does nature account?
Rain does not check references before pouring.

Energy to you.

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ALSO - this is your open ended invite to
point out all my errors, contradictions, typos, and math mistakes! At the risk of being annoying or helpful, (just) do it!

Things you could know about me:

order: newest adds at the top, older things at the bottom

Sunrises are Mom. Sunsets are Dad.

true crime podcasts affect my outlook on life

Mismatched shoes is a me thing; it is not a mistake I walked out the door with.

Watching a dog run on the beach is one of the purest sights of happiness I know.

I was not a whiskey drinker. I don't know when I become a whiskey drinker. I have hated whiskey and all dark liquor all my life. Now I drink old fashioneds. Who have I become?

You will often find me "wrapping my head around that good thought"

vague. I don't like vague. don't be vague with me, I won't be vague with you. at least not on purpose.

defines WEIGHT as: the quality of the quantity of matter you are carrying

I like to antagonize common sayings and typical perspectives

Everything is a choice and authenticity is supreme.

Reflecting on my life whether it's looking back at the last month or doing a "this time last year" thing, shorter or longer time frames, doing this at all is a reflection of who I am. That I care to consider who I am, who I have been, what I have done, so that I may use all of that to inform what I do and who I am in the present and the future. That I reflect is a reflection of who I am.

running with turtles

I know, I'm a horror to say anything to some times..

when all my identities are umbrellas

I love a good double negative!

Plan in quotes because I'm so averse to "plans" and "goals".

I chunk out my days, to the minute, in Gcal.

I love to putter so if it becomes "I puttered my life away" so be it.

I'm not a cherry picker, of anything. I like to use things that exist rather than start from new or scratch.

I am an ostrich about politics, news, current events, pop culture and media.

I dislike clichés and most positive quotes, under thought things meant well, commonly said quotes and phrases.

Don't tell me what to do, don't ask me "how how are you?" or say "I'm sorry for your loss" unless you want to annoy me or you really, really mean it. And know it can be hard to tell which it is, and I'm wrong not infrequently.

30 Day Challenges are my thing. I have a tendency to make things every day things. This is where 30 Day Challenges come from!

Like yourself. Know yourself. Express that self.
Think about things. Don't feel like you have to dance in the rain to have a good life.
Don't have a plan. Stand for what matters. Read when you want to. Don't smile when people tell you to.
Don't have goal. Tend plants. Leave marks. Do what you say. Change YOUR world. And your mind!
Be a friend and a daughter and a partner and a sister and a dog mom.
In a world full of "accept who you are" messages, don't forget to be a "work on that" kind of person.
Don't put kindness above truth. Try new things. Be honest. Live by ideals. Have some whimsy.
What you do for money matters; strive to like what you do for money. (job)
If you have a hobby you need a life.
Use what attracts you and let what you care about matter!

Peepers are my favorite sound.

Triangles are my favorite shape.

54 is my number.

I never need to talk but thank you for offering to listen.

If you say I'm overthinking it, I'll probably say you are underthinkig it.

why I do what I do: I want to "make you" THINK. I don't mind if your experience and perception of me "makes you" be more mindful, use your brain more, "think too much" or consider something more carefully, or differently, or moves you to be (more) thoughtful or intentional or authentic.

I am a hugger and I mean my hugs.

I don't like to have scheduled things. The days where I have something scheduled are a certain category of feeling. I'm not very fond of pre sign ups, committing to things in advance externally. My favorite days are the ones I call "blank slate days". Nothing scheduled, nothing formally EXTERNALLY committed (I am full of internal commitment and ideas all the time, so no day is truly uncommitted).

use the moons

I love rules and I am a ruler follower.

I like a cup to fill.

So which is it Kym. Do you like wide open clean slate no commitment things?
Or you "need" want and thrive in containers, defined spaces, rules and limits?

Geez what a walking contradiction. A biggest when to which Witch!?

SOC life - what you allow in, turns into what you spend your time on. Can you see it?

Tomb raider hot is my favorite kind of girl hot, my favorite hot to be.

Resources

A link list for quick and easy clicking.

• Exhibit: the: "how do you decide what you do and don't express" doozy
• ​Kymology,com
• ​Substack​
• ​Kymology Youtube​
• what does it mean when Kym sends you a triangle (put a LINK here KG!)

Thank you for being here. Energy to you. 🔺
​
Ciao for now!

KG

Snail Mail I "love" snail mail. If want to send me snail mail or a prezzy "just because", you can always reach me here: PO Box 549 Harpers Ferry, WV 25425.

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