Throughout this month, I'll be adding stuff to this blog post :)
November 7th:
I've been struggling with keeping myself away from high-stimulation activities like watching youtube videos and playing video games. It's been a bit hard to motivate myself to stick to my self-care and productivity daily schedule:
Call political reps
Update my FriendRewind blog
Work out
Go on a walk
Do seven Duolingo Dutch lessons
Work on piano tuning school (academic and hands-on)
Play instrument(s)
Work on my to-do list
Practice line dances
Read a book
Granted, it's a pretty hefty daily to-do list. But they are all things I really want to do consistently! I hope I'll be able to get into a groove where the routine sets in. There are days though where I feel tired or unmotivated and the routine can fall by the wayside.
I've just been totally ecstatic about the results of the election!! I want to do some research into what the upcoming federal and North Carolina State Congresses will actually be capable of doing given the fuckedness of the Executive and Judicial branches and the still-Republican-controlled State Senate.
But the results have really assuaged my fears of the Netherlands ending the DAFT Visa by the time I'm ready to apply for it in 2028. And who knows - maybe things will have turned around to the extent that I won't even want to leave! Finding a girlfriend would also keep me here :)
I think it remains to be seen if we've reached a place where a meaningful number of people in the US will keep doing civic participation - my takeaway from the degradation of American quality-of-life and the erosion of democratic systems is that democratic societies require consistent civic participation. I will keep doing it cause it feels good to do something, but it's going to require a significant number of people doing the same. We will see!
What else...I had an eye exam yesterday. Oh, the receptionist was really pretty and she was smiling at me, which could have been just friendliness, but I wanted to ask her out, but I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. I asked some female friends of mine, and the conclusion, which I will follow next time I encounter a nice pretty lady in a work setting, is to write her a letter with my number saying that I would love to get to know her better. She will hopefully at the least be flattered without being put on the spot.
Oh, I rejoined Tinder 😅 I will never ever ever pay for any of these shite dating apps anymore - I've done that way too much and have gotten nothing out of it - but I figure it doesn't hurt to put in like 10 minutes of swiping every day. Over the many years of being on them, I've vacillated with how to approach them - what is my criteria for swiping yes or no? Should physical attraction matter when that will inevitably fade over time (that's my assumption, at least)? Do I try and parse out chemistry within their profiles? My current strategy is to send a like unless they either are not physically attractive to me at all (even a little bit is a yes) and don't express any hard-no's for me (isn't looking for a long-term relationship, wants kids, is conservative, fishes/hunts). So far, it's actually been pretty fun - I've found myself swiping for more than 10 minutes a day. I expect that as time goes on, it'll decrease.
I went line dancing on Thursday to a location I hadn't been before (Whiskey Rose). It was interesting! I would go again. People don't seem especially friendly, but it was great to do line dancing again. I think I will still stick to The Pinhook, primarily.
Movie night this week with my friend B was my turn to pick - I chose A Fistful of Dollars. Other than a part that was a little too dark for my taste, I definitely enjoyed it!
There's a friend that I've been meaning to hang out with for a while (G) and it hasn't happened, but it happened a few days ago!! And we're hanging out again tomorrow (we're going to carpool to the Buddhist service and hang out a bit afterwards) yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
On Monday, I had my first medical massage appointment through the VA. She was a very kind and fun client, and I'm looking forward to seeing her again. And then later that day I had a client who got creepy and sexual 😬 on the bright side, it's a growth experience for me - I get to practice asserting my boundaries, which is an important and valuable skill and one that I've historically not been good at. Hooray for continually growing as a person!
My friend U and I have been hanging out, watching Schitt's Creek, and I've been giving her foot massages 😄 it's a great friendship and I'm grateful to have it! She gave me some art gifts and this Indian cashew dessert called kaju katli and holy moly is it good 😵
On Halloween, I went to a concert with B to see Lux Terminus in Raleigh. They were great! They weren't the headliner - the headliner was OK Goodnight, which I hadn't heard of and am now listening to, and I like them a lot too! However, the overall experience wasn't good because of silly ROCD stuff, unfortunately. I ended up leaving early. It's okay, though - I think the experience has reaffirmed that, even though I'm a huge huge fan of listening to music, concerts aren't for me. I don't know why, but I've felt it many times in the past and have repeatedly not listened to that part of myself and went anyway. But I think I'll cool it on the concerts from now on.
Oh! During a political activism event earlier on the 31st, which was the last day of early voting here in NC, we were doing some protest-song-singing, and one person said a nice thing to me, which was that she thought I was a good singer and might want to check out a choral group. So I did! I found one in Durham, and I will actually be auditioning for them in a few day 😮 the piece is a JS Bach piece that's not really my style, but I don't care whatsoever - it'll be great to sing with people again! And make new friends!!
Spravato sessions have been consistently great recently - I've been sticking to putting my phone on airplane mode and do not disturb as soon as I sit down in the chair, writing down things I want to do instead of doing them during the session, and sticking to the stretching, positive affirmations, and using the massage gun. I'm really happy about that :)
Best wishes to you all 🤗
Comments
Displaying 0 of 0 comments ( View all | Add Comment )