Happy Easter!
Life has been going very well lately. There are a lot of downsides to a 9-5 lifestyle, as I will be the first to tell you. However, the scarcity of time it has imposed has forced me to take stock of what I actually want to do with my time – something I was never forced to do when time was abundant.
My routine now, while it could still probably use some improvements, is far an away the best it has ever been in my life. I go to the gym six days a week, and have gained 15 pounds of mostly muscle so far this year as a result. I’m also eating the healthiest I ever have been as I actually take some time to plan what I’m going to meal-prep for the week every Sunday. Once again, there is still room for improvement, but these two things alone have made an incalculable difference in the way I feel, both mentally and physically.
The feeling of accomplishment the gym has given me cannot be overstated. Having taken ownership over an aspect of my life I have always struggled with, making an effort to overcome it, and succeeding as a direct result of my own calculated effort is a tremendous feeling.
I’m also trying to take more control over my finances, and have begun to rebuild the savings that I lost while I was struggling to find a job. My goal is to save 20% of my income, which may be unrealistic given my unavoidable expenses and the fact that I am in my 20s and have a 20s social calendar, but still, I’m making an effort and it’s working so far, and for that I am grateful.
The one area I still need to improve upon is managing my hobbies. With the limited amount of time I have outside work, and my weekends usually being occupied by tinkering with my truck or driving to someplace that isn’t where I live (Tampa, Orlando, Miami), it can be difficult to make myself make time for the things I enjoy doing.
The one I’ve been getting better about lately is getting my camera out to take pictures, even if I don’t feel there is much to take pictures of. Even if the squirrels and birds aren’t quite as photogenic as the bison and elk I bought the camera for, they’re still great to watch, and the more time you spend with them the more likely you are to catch them doing something worth taking pictures of. That’s one of the things I like most about photography: it forces you to really spend time looking at things, and rewards you for doing so.
Still though, it’s a rare day that I pick up a book or a guitar, and those are both things I have made a goal of for the year. I am hopeful that by the end of April, none of the quantifiable goals I made for the year will still be at the same number I started with, and I think that is achievable if I put my mind to making time for my hobbies.
I also think I’m approaching the timeframe where I should start the process of reaching out to professors at the various grad schools I am planning on applying to. I hadn’t realized a few months ago that the process for applying to grad school is a bit different than undergrad, with much more focus on knowing the specifics of what you want to do (this makes sense, I just didn’t know it).
I want to start reading some of their books prior to reaching out to have a better idea of what to expect, and to have a better baseline for expressing my interest in their work. I bought a couple books recently, and one I am excited to read is Inherit the Holy Mountain, recommended to me by an Environmental Historian I spoke with from Montana State.
Overall, I am proud of the path my life is currently on. Even if it isn’t exactly what I want in the long run, it feels that I am making the best of a situation that I could have easily let continue to depress me. Things are going well, and that’s because I chose to make the changes I needed to. This hasn’t always been the case, and wasn’t easy, and for that I am sincerely proud of myself and grateful for the will to have done so.
I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend.
Song of the Week:
The Line 
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