What I’ve been up to
Hello everyone! Long time no talk. Just wanted to give you guys an update on what I’ve been doing lately.
As many of you know, I took a hiatus from Facebook. I did this for a few reasons:
1. I was sick of all the political ranting.
Yes, Trump was elected, and we all pretty much hate him as a human being. Some people like his politics but not his personality, while other people just despise him in general. But either way, ranting about something you can’t change is not a productive use of your time or energy. There are much better things to do with your time than to be setting up a wall of negativity for your network to look at every time they sign in. You may not be able to change who the President is, but at least you can change your own world by maintaining your own positivity.
2. Facebook has become impersonal.
I think Facebook started out with great intentions, but it seems to me that it has just become a gigantic time-sucking mechanism. It was created to keep in touch with your network and to see how your friends and family are doing, but it seems like it has just become about political ranting, memes, and pictures of food. For some reason, people are afraid to post actual real posts about their lives, which I think is a shame. In any case, I find that there’s nothing actually real, substantial, or worthwhile on Facebook anymore.
3. I have been using my time more productively.
Mainly, I’ve been hard at work building my future for my music and writing. I’ve been focusing on building my music studio to teach more music lessons, as well as preparing for my piano recital down the line. I’ve been polishing up more of my novel, as well as gearing up to be a reviewer for a geothermal FOA next month.
Furthermore, I’ve been working on my own time management for my daily life. I’m trying to wake up earlier so that I can prioritize the most important things before work. Being a night owl, this is proving to be very difficult. But, I’ve made great progress so far, so it’s only a matter of time before I succeed.
4. I’ve been rediscovering myself.
Somewhere along the line, I lost pretty much all of myself and all of my hobbies. (More specifically, that line would be the “go-to-school, get-an-education, get-a-job, study-geology, be-a-logic-person, have-a-high-paying-geothermal job” line). Somewhere in all of that, I lost everything true to myself and forgot who I was: a very, very, VERY creative person. To correct this problem, I made some dream boards for myself as well as wrote a book of affirmations for myself that I can reference when I forget what I like and forget what I’m all about. I learned that I LOVE swing dancing and jazz, so recently I’ve been attending free swing dancing classes and jazz concerts to really cultivate those interests.
I was really rusty at swing dancing, but everyone at the class was so nice and helped me to refresh my memory on the footing for West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, and Charleston. I even danced with someone who knew how to do The Pretzel (!!!!!!!!!!!) aka the best move ever. I was literally so happy and so fulfilled after this event that I almost started crying out of excitement. I had just done an activity that I used to love so much, but had not done in about 7 years.
Also, I re-activated my love for arts and crafts. When I was at my Dad’s house for Thanksgiving, I found some of my old half-finished art projects and took them back with me. I’m currently in the process of finishing them. Interestingly, I learned that I used to sew my own pillows and make all sorts of cool bead animals, clocks, etc.
I also used to love sports and adventuring. I used to play basketball and soccer and go rollerblading. I want to do these things again and I want to become better at swimming and playing tennis. I want to learn how to skateboard, surf, and play squash. I want to take Zumba classes and Pilates classes and go kayaking and canoeing. I want to go paragliding and parasailing and zip lining and white-water rafting.
I have so many cool interests and there are so many parts of myself that I neglected these years, forced into being a logic person pursuing a steady paycheck.
5. I have been improving myself.
I have been reading many books about time management, relationships, and spirituality. I did a lot of deep healing into myself and am working every day on becoming a better person. I learned that there is a different thing called “spirituality” and “faith” that is very different from the “religion” that I had been shown all my life and had always boycotted. I like this “faith relationship” and have been developing and deepening that each day. I have been starting my mornings by meditating and praying and reading the Bible. I have been ending each day by reading books on how I can improve myself further.
6. I have been curing myself of illness.
I started seeing a homeopathic doctor who is going to cure me of Crohn’s disease and lupus. She changed my entire diet, so now I eat vegan in addition to eating gluten free. This was a serious shock to my system, but I’m getting more used to it every day. I already feel very, very good on this diet and have already weaned off my medication. She said at my last visit that I could be just 6-months away from full health!
7. I have been making new friends and going out of my way to add value to others each day.
And there’s nothing wrong with that!
So, that’s it. I’m very happy with my results so far, but I still do miss my network of friends spread out across the country. I’ve been dipping back into Facebook every now and then to see how everyone’s doing, but that’s pretty much it.