Oh what a year it’s been! Surviving Coronapocalypse!

It’s been a year, right? 2020 into 2021, Coronapocolypse. Hopefully, we are finally heading out of this with people getting vaccinated and being willing to continue with precautions for the time being (I won’t comment on people who refuse to wear their masks, who choose to support businesses who refuse to follow the rules, or those who continue to think that Covid-19 is nothing- I am sure you can probably imagine my opinion). But I want to talk to you about what I have learned in the last year. Some of it is personal and some of it is stuff that I have chosen to work on in order to better myself.

Let’s start off by talking about “free time”. I thought I was good at filling free time but… nope. Because one thing that became very obvious in 2020 was that I had no selfcare. I went to work, came home, and did it again the next day. There was nothing else. This was part of why everything became so crushing and completely overwhelming- there was no where for the stress and energy to go. At one point, it was so bad that I would come home, fall asleep, eat something, shower, go to bed, sleep, get up and go to work. I know the TV was on at some point but couldn’t tell you what was on. And honestly, it didn’t matter because for most of last year I didn’t watch anything significant. I even stopped watched my CW Arrowverse shows.

What is free time? I mean, if we don’t define it, how can fill it appropriately. To me, free time is any time that is not designated to a specific act. Meaning, mostly, not work time. But may also include time not set aside to fill appointments or specifically assigned to an activity. So, in my thinking, a weekend away with a friend is not free time because the time is set aside to be spent with that friend, doing things together- though those activities may not be defined. But let’s say I get up on a Saturday and have no plans… free time. Others may define it differently, and that’s ok. Because we are different and thus our priorities are different. So if I have a plan to clean the rugs this weekend- that’s not free time. But someone else may consider it differently.

Ok, so free time was a problem for me. I discovered that I had no hobbies. I love movies and I love going to see them in the theater. And for a while I was doing this activity- sometimes with family and sometimes with my ex-bff. But I realized that I never picked the movies with him. He came to a couple with my family and I, but everything else we saw was his choice. So… not sure that counts for me. I enjoyed the movies, but would I have picked them myself? Not sure. Doesn’t count. I also love hopping in the car and randomly going somewhere but a) pandemic and b) no one to go with. At the start of things (and somewhat even before) mom had some health issues, so even if we could, we couldn’t. And again, the ex-bff, screwed those adventures up- too long a tale, just know that he did. Plus, pandemic, and everyone else in my world is focused on their own lives. So that’s not really a viable thing. I bake. But pandemic made people paranoid (understandably so) and then around here during the summer it’s too hot to bake. So that was out. I lost all the things I enjoyed and thought of as hobbies. So I sat my tushy down and had a think. I had mentioned things like painting and exercise in previous posts I have made about Coronapocalypse, but I hadn’t really done them myself. But I got interested in acrylic poured painting- it appeals to the messy side of me- and once I made my first mess, I was hooked. I am still working on techniques and skills, but in the last several months I have found that I really love watching the colors do what they are gonna do, and forcing them to do what I like, and sometimes a little of both. If you are interested, I have a RedBubble that has several of the things I have created. Maybe someday I will sell the things I have made. I am NOT the artist here at NerdLush, that’s Dee2, but since she’s been a quiet mouse the last while, I will poke my head out of my shell.

I also started walking. I think I have talked about this before, so I won’t say too much here but honestly it really helped me get through a couple very rough times. And nowadays, I get together with one of my lifelong friends once a week to go walking and get our venting on. It’s like therapy only it’s free and comes with an obscene number of years of history. Which is sometimes better because we are too tired to be judgmental and too lazy to get rid of each other. We know where all the skeletons are buried. Anyways, so we walk marathon challenges together and motivate each other and support each other. Even when don’t do it together.

Another thing I have figured out in the last year, now that I am done torturing my poor brain for the evil beast of a test, is that I still love learning. Along with the above, I have started getting back into learning a language. I am working on Spanish as it is the most useful for me- due to where I live and work. I have no belief that I will be conversational any time soon but some of the things I learned as a kid are still in there and some things that would never stick before are sticking now. I have bookmarked a workbook I want to get to help me self-teach more but for now I will stick with my app and doing a little bit every day. I also have plans to self-teach piano but haven’t gotten started on that one yet. Both are skills that have shown to help with the elasticity of the brain and I’m not a spring chicken anymore, so it’s a good idea to continue practicing. Also, at least the Spanish has real world applications in my world.

I think I recall talking about gardening before too, but let me point out that this is still something I enjoy but also something that I have dived into over the last year because a) stuck at home and b) watching things grow and bloom and develop foods (I prefer growing edible things) is so cool! Figuring out what actually grows in my yard, what doesn’t like being in a pot and what does, what plants attract the feral cats, etc. has all been a fascinating activity. This year I started peas and they are so cool to watch! They are sprouting little pods now and climbing up the trellises I gave them and it’s so neat to watch them change from day to day. We won’t speak of the artichokes that are taking over the world, but I have high hopes for my potatoes. If the feral cats would stop sleeping on them!

And that gets us back to nerdy stuff. I am so behind on the Arrowverse shows that Stewart has burned a hole in the side of my head from all his stinkeye. I am only current on Superman & Lois and that’s only because it’s barely on episode 4. Plus, I am still like 3 seasons behind on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (pretty sure if he lived closer, I would have a bruised shoulder from him socking me every time I said I would catch up this week, LOL). Not to mention all the movies and other shows I am behind on. I am very interested in hearing recommendations- what should put on the list to watch? I’m starting a whole new list, so just lay it on me- if I haven’t seen it or finished it, I will add it to the list.

I guess I haven’t learned too much, but I am still learning and that’s the most important part.

Tags: Art, Coronapocalypse, CoronaVirus, Exercise, Geekery, Health, Mental Health, Nerdtastic Ramblings, Painting, Pandemic, Personal, Self Care, Stress, Walking