Web Miscellany: Compilation #26

Hello friends!

A new year is upon us, and it’s an optimal time for reflection and new habits. I’m certainly glad to thank 2018 and send the year on its way as I welcome 2019 with open arms.

With my drastically reduced commute and improving health, I’m beginning to reconsider pursuing graduate school. I’m equally drawn to human-centered engineering, integrative medicine, business and law, so I’ll probably take some community college courses to discern what feels most right.

I’m so happy to report that my vitals have normalized. I can do light exercise (i.e. walking and yoga) without my legs giving out or my vision blurring. It feels like such a beautiful victory for this body of mine! I’m still working through the persistent “are you sure this isn’t pneumonia?” cough and severe abdominal pain, but I have several upcoming appointments and great hope that we’ll discover the tools necessary for my body to heal itself. I still feel physically exhausted most of the time, but there’s a lightness about it. Every day is a good day, a full day, and a day well-lived. It’s a completely different energy than what’s been trailing me for the last few years, and I am so grateful for the shift.

My boyfriend is out of town for a “guys weekend” in California with old friends, so I plan to take it easy and savor the solitude. His birthday is next week, so I also need to find the perfect card and something extra to supplement his birthday bidet.

What are your big plans for the weekend and the days to follow? What are your hopes for the new year ahead of us?

1. Quote I’m contemplating: “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” –Rumi
2. I began the year with Susanna Conaway’s annual Unravel Your Year workbook for my fifth year. It’s a great tool for reflection and hope-setting.
3. I recently completed the Steam puzzle game, Thomas was Alone, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Next up: Life is Strange.
4. Current kitchen obsessions: Rishi ginger turmeric tea and this vegan portobello mushroom pizza.
5. Unread books are imagined reading futures, not an indication of failure. Interesting thoughts on whether to “Konmari” your books. I pared back my 900+ book collection in 2018–while the exercise was incredibly freeing, I sometimes miss the books and wonder whether I should have held on to them.
6. I’m currently reading Aldous Huxley’s Island and Cal Newport’s Deep Work, both of which I’m enjoying.
7. 50 things turning 50 in 2018. What a year 1969 was!
8. Ready to laugh so hard it hurts? Say “No” to Crack and Say “Yes” to Roller Skating!