Learning the Hard Way

Learning a computer programming language is not like riding a bike. As someone that was fluent in web design languages in my middle school years and survived AP computer science in high school, it seems like all of the coding knowledge I have ever known has poured out of my brain.  While my friend is working on his masters in computer science, I am learning Ruby the hard way at home, and I have to start with learning the basic commands in Powershell.

This learn-from-home system that I'm jumping in to (it is now day 3 of this book) made me realize:

a) I have become really lazy about how I type and I look down at my hands more than a millennial should

b) How important it is to schedule personal time and stick to it

c) I really needed a free hobby

When I get stuck in the social media catch-22, or when I'm tempted to buy craft supplies for a new project, I can open up these lessons and feel productive without spending money.  Also, making a conscious decision to do this one thing for a least an hour every day is one more thing that I can use to block out my daily schedule.  This year I have been putting more effort into my social life, but learning to arrange these "whatever day works for you" type of plans is tricky with a sparse work schedule, so I have been scheduling coding, yoga, and running time for myself to add some more structure to my day.

It is not easy to keep a date with yourself.

I think that acknowledging that is what's causing me to make such an effort. My personal time does not need to be spent lounging to make me feel rested and refreshed.  Learning a new thing and challenging my brain is empowering. Getting to the mat every day brings me peace and an open heart. The time I spend (read as: waste) playing Pocket Mortys just doesn't provide the same positive momentum in my life that productive personal time does. Acknowledging that hasn't helped me stop just yet.

This week, write your personal time into your schedule. Do more than just pencil it in, really set aside time each day to focus on something you enjoy and that makes you more whole.

Best,

Forget the sweeping resolutions, bring on the 2016 new year's micro-changes

Happy New Year, folks! I hope this past weekend after the holidays has you refreshed and ready to take on your first Monday of the year. I got to spend so much time with both of our immediate families and his extended family for Christmas, and then a lot of time with our framily last week leading up to New Year's Eve. New Year's is becoming my favorite holiday because it's the strongest tradition that our framily has right now and I love having the whole gang in one place for a night. I was also very lucky to get to see some of my college friends for lunch on new year's day. I pretty much feel like I nailed it when it came to seeing friends around the holidays.

Here's me and my guy right after we rang in the new year.

But with the changing of the calendar year, it also brings the sweeping declarations.

I would love the be the kind of person that can make a sweeping declaration and stick to it. I am a little too much of a realist (read as: pseudo-cynic), so I have trouble tricking myself into overhauling my life.  Instead I make micro-changes that don't completely throw off the way I live my life day-to-day. It's something I do regularly throughout the year, so for New Year's I just added a few extra and and working out a way to keep track of habits I'm building.

In the past 6 months, I have decided that I should spend more effort on the relationships that matter to me, and to reach out to the people that I have been wondering about. One of the ways I am trying to solidify that is by making and sending birthday cards to my close friends, roommates, and my classmates from radiology school.

It also doubles as an opportunity to work on hand-lettering skills and is a reason for me to get out some more craft supplies.

My next goal I have been working on is to try and get better at sleeping, so I am working on that by reading books more regularly, meditating more often and writing in my meditation journal. For Christmas, I asked for a few books, and I got out some books I never finished, so I'm have plenty of brain fodder. Adam and I also have a shared list on the Couple app of books we hear about from friends or podcasts so we can be on the lookout for more.

I found this meditation journal right after I started this blog, and I was in the process of Christmas shopping and it just felt so perfect. It has quotes scattered throughout the inside of it, and the cover really spoke to me with it's chakra design and a mantra that perfectly described how I want to try and live my life.

Pictured with it is the amazonite and onyx mala I made and have been using for the past month. The guru bead is carved rosewood. I am really in love with how this second mala turned out. I really do enjoy making them (and I love going to the rock shop to buy beads) so I think I am going to make more to sell on the etsy.

Cheers to 2016!