Archive for the 'Life' Category

September 1st, 2017

Recap: August 2017

Compared to July, August was a much better month. If I were to pick a theme, it’d probably be healthy mind and body. I wanted to focus on maintaining healthy habits, and as you can see from my previous entry, I also wanted to revive a neglected hobby that I used to love. Some things I feel good about:

  • I exercised almost every day in August, mainly short runs (35-45 min) or long walks (45-70 min). I only missed one day due to a long dinner!
  • I ate better. I changed my breakfast, cooked lunches for work, and got in the habit of picking healthier options when eating out.
  • I lost weight in a maintainable way, without feeling like I was starving or depriving myself of things I like.
  • I finished one Prismacolor drawing and four watercolor paintings. I have another painting in-progress!

Overall, I’ve just been feeling good. The exercise and diet changes make me feel better about my body, and working on art leaves me feeling relaxed and happy.

Read the rest of this entry »

11 · Posted in Life, Monthly Recaps
July 31st, 2017

Recap: July 2017

Unfortunately, July was not a good month for me, and if you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw a glimpse of it. Early in the month, I received some bad news that included needing a small surgery. It’s something personal and hard to talk about, so for right now, I’m leaving out the details of it. I immediately took some time off of work to come to terms with it and to recover from the surgery.

After about a week, I still had some side effects and pain from the surgery, but I was well enough to do most things normally again. I started working towards getting my life back to a “normal” state. For about 4 days after the surgery, I spent most of my time lying down and just feeling crappy about the whole situation. It definitely took a toll on my mental health, and the moment I was physically well enough, I knew I needed to do something about it.

On the bright side, I had a close friend visit me shortly after I got the bad news. It was a trip she already planned, so the timing was coincidental, but spending time with her helped me feel sane about the whole thing. I also confided in another friend who I was able to talk in-depth with, which helped a lot. (You know who you are. Thank you.)

Read the rest of this entry »

13 · Posted in Life, Monthly Recaps
July 17th, 2017

When hobbies are no longer fun

At some point in my life, I began making an important distinction about activities I was passionate about. Which ones are purely for myself, and which ones am I willing to be paid for? Ideally, it’d be great if they overlapped, but it’s not always the case. Money changes things. It changes your expectations; it changes your clients’ expectations; it can make you hate things you used to enjoy.

During college, I freelanced in webdesign to make some extra money. Sometimes it felt great to be able to make different designs, and some of my clients were wonderful. Some were absolutely miserable to work with, and some would ask me to make hideous designs. I was working with people I didn’t like and making designs I was not proud of. Shortly after graduating, I stopped completely because I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I had a full time job already. If I am to continue webdesign, it needed to be for myself, no one else.

I’ve also had people on multiple occasions bug me to take on baking or cosplay commissions and to open some sort of shop. I know it might seem like “easy money” since it’s something I enjoy, but people don’t realize that it’s not that simple nor is it always desirable. For one, tending to a shop and keeping up with commissions is a lot of work. Two, I already have a full time job that depletes my energy almost every weekday. And three, when do I get time for myself?

Read the rest of this entry »

12 · Posted in Random
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »