What Day Is It?

2 February 2020

This is one of many blogs that I wrote during my year off but never posted.

As my year off progresses, I am inching closer and closer to being in a mental state where I am taking each day as it comes instead of living in the future (or the past). I am the most stress-free that I can remember being. I am wholly healthier than I’ve been in a long time. Things aren’t perfect, but when are they ever? I have made major progress in the areas of my life that I wanted to improve by giving myself the time and space to do so.

I wrote this in my journal on 20 May 2018, a few weeks after my last day of work (for context, I was at my family’s lake house and had not yet let go of the need to be doing something):

One of my favorite things so far about my year off is that I forget what day it is. I wake up without an alarm and begin doing whatever needs to be done that day. Today I finished replacing all of the electrical outlets and light switches in the house, then began wiring the ethernet cable that we ran from the house down to the dock. I came inside at 9:30 PM - my feet covered in mosquito bites - filled with a sense of accomplishment. I thought it must be Wednesday, or Thursday. Maybe Friday. I opened up a calendar; it’s Sunday. Tomorrow begins a new week.

Another favorite: One of the first things I did after my last day of work was delete the morning alarm from my phone. This has turned the morning into a much more pleasant time of day for me; I sleep until my body gets the rest it needs, and I’m not being jarred out of bed to go do something. It is a great luxury.