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This is what a typical day in my life looks like not counting the usual stuff like making breakfast or checking the mail:
15-20 minutes of studying Spanish in the morning either on Duolingo or by consuming Spanish media (music, tv shows, films, etc).
A 30 minute morning workout. It will most often be kickboxing, weightlifting, or a maybe a walk if I’m not feeling great. Occasionally, yoga or dancing might replace one of these activities. Evening workouts can interfere with my sleep schedule, so mornings it is.
Writing. I try to get in a few hours of writing a day on average. Due to my migraines, this means that some days are more like seven or eight hours of writing while others include very little of it.
Volunteering. This, too, varies by day. It’s done virtually and could be as short as five minutes or as long as a few hours. So much relies on how long a to-do list is and how much time I have to check things off from it!
Chores. This is maybe 30 minutes to three hours a day, depending on whether or not the laundry basket is full and how many loads of laundry I might need to do. Chores always include washing multiple rounds of dishes since we don’t own a dishwasher and have a tiny drying rack. It might also include going grocery shopping, mailing a birthday card to a relative, picking up a prescription or other necessary goods at the pharmacy, calling the doctor or dentist, cleaning the bathroom, dusting, sweeping, etc. You know, the typical stuff adults do to keep things running smoothly that kids don’t think about when they wish they, too, were grownups.
A short lunchtime walk, if possible. It’s good to stretch my legs after a morning of (mostly) sitting.
A focused afternoon. Anything I didn’t finish in the morning is something I try to return to and wrap up ibefore dinner.
15-20 minutes of studying Spanish in the evening. It’s a nice way to wind down, and I’m getting a much stronger grasp of that language with all of the time I’ve invested into it.
Batch cooking. About twice a week I’ll make something that keeps well like spaghetti, tacos, shepherd’s pie, or a stir-fry that I can eat for lunch or for dinner over the next 2-3 days.
Maybe an evening walk? Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn’t depending on the weather and how I’m feeling.
Migraines are the main thing that interrupts this schedule. Screen time is a known trigger for many people’s migraines, and my medical professionals have told me to really keep an eye on it and limit screen time when I can for that reason. It’s hard for me to focus when I’m having one anyways, so those days are meant for lying still in a room that is as dark and quiet as possible.
So if my body is anywhere in the migraine cycle, I put off everything I possibly can for a couple of days and get as much rest as I can. I’m quite fortunate to have the ability to do this, and it’s one reason why I push myself to get so much done on the good days.
I’ve read that public figures of all sorts were traditionally taught how to speak to the media early on in their careers. As in, shortly before they were signed to a record label, decided to run for office, chosen as a new player for a sports team, had their book approved for publication, or experienced something similarly life changing, they were given lessons on how to talk to reporters and how to steer a conversation away from matters they’d rather not discuss.
I’ve talked about living with a food allergy previously on my blog, so the topic I’m picking for this week’s prompt is migraines.
The existence of media training makes this week’s theme a tricky one. Just because a celebrity has developed a particular public image doesn’t mean that they are at all like that persona behind closed doors.
Age 18. Exams were wrapping up, and winter break was just about to begin. I sat in my college library and thumbed through the magazines they had there, paying special attention to the ones about science, literature, or history. It was neither a big library nor a fancy one, but I loved how quiet and peaceful it always was. I spent a lot of time there between classes even if I didn’t have any papers to write or upcoming tests to study for.
I’ve been looking forward to this topic for months! Let’s see if our ideas of unusual hobbies and interests match up.
Imaginative. I was always imagining something in my mind no matter what else I was doing. Sometimes I talked to myself quietly about the beautiful stories that were going on in my mind.
This year I’m hoping to read more nonfiction about medical and scientific advances.
The first few times I tried audiobooks, I was not at all a fan of them because I can read much faster than the average narrator speaks and I’d much rather get to know characters through the written word instead of the spoken one.