boredom

Weekly Therapy: 11.03.17

- Mel

the week:
My surgery is this morning, and I’m unable to eat anything or have any coffee and OMG I AM GOING TO BE SO CRANKY IN A FEW HOURS! For those unaware, I’m having an intraductal papilloma removed from my right breast. I ran last night with our local Fleet Feet store, and the reduction in miles for the last couple weeks has returned a pretty good response in my body. My recovery time should only be a few days, and my “return to activity” directive is anything after that – if it feels good to do so.

weekend:
I’ll be recovering from my surgery, so I see a lot of lazy ice cream-eating, roller derby binge-watching hours on the couch. And homework. AND GO BUCKS!

seven things, seven days:
1. OH GOD I AM SO HUNGRY.
2. Zipper-front sports bras are not a thing for A-cups. #tmyk
3. LUMBERJILLS!
4. The Christmas lights got installed on our house. BEFORE HALLOWEEN.
5. Halloween didn’t bring out too many kids this year because of the cold temps, but I enjoyed participating in our neighborhood’s Boos & Booze event again.
6. Worst costume was the kid in a full M*chigan football uniform. -_-
7. What boredom does to you (spoiler alert: it’s not all bad!) {via Nautilus}

Weekly Therapy: April’s Fools and a Legacy of Friendship

- Mel 3 Comments

the week:
An incredibly sad start to the week, with news that a friend whom I’ve known since I was 19, died of cancer on Easter morning. She just turned 40 in December and was diagnosed at Christmas with a rare internal melanoma that was already at advanced stages. It’s heartbreaking, especially because we hadn’t seen one another in a while, and also because we had something of a mutual falling out last year. I’m certainly still in shock about it all, and I had planned to go back to visit with her after I got settled. Well, her 2-8 week prognosis just as I moved to Iowa was actually just that two short weeks. And my heart just hurts immensely for her family, while I break because of all the guilt for not getting to her in time. I’m glad for the opportunity I had to reach out and message her before she passed, however. Though we had some unresolved conflict, there was still a lot of love there and expressed. She certainly taught me a lot on how to be a better friend, which is a pretty great legacy to leave behind.

weekend:
I *think* I’ve finally found my groove with workouts this week. I walked two miles around my neighborhood, took advantage of a free day pass at Life Time Fitness (and took a yoga class), and have scheduled runs for Thursday, Friday and Sunday. I’ve connected with someone from the roller derby team here, too, so that I can join in with the group when they do trail skating or maybe scrimmages (I haven’t ultimately decided whether I’ll join derby; I still want to get settled into my new home and job and a new routine first).

The boyfriend and I are *finally* going to explore downtown a bit on Saturday, now that the garage is somewhat organized and clear, and all the boxes are unpacked and stored.

seven things, seven days:
1. No joke, I painted my toenails for the first time in, like, six months. o_O
2. Also not funny: one of my cats has been waking me up every.single.morning around 3:45 a.m. And since I’m working from home, he is one annoying sonuvabitch until at least 2 p.m. WHY IS HE NOT SLEEPING?!
3. I won a $25 gift card from another Iowa blogger to my local Orange Leaf fro-yo place — a magical place that is rumored to also deliver in my area.
4. I think that I was meant to find this article this week: Dying, With Nothing to Say {via NYT}
5. I joke a lot about my insomnia, but the truth is, I am just on a different schedule. And I cannot find any humor in someone snarking on my sleeping habits. So, here’s an article about some good old fashioned Night Owl discrimination (and understanding chronobiology). {via Vox}
6. “It would be boring if it was easy.” Yes, yes, YES! Repeat after me: FAILURE IS INEVITABLE. The hidden psychology of failure {via BBC}
7. Why in God’s name are hangovers so much worse in your 30s?! Here’s some info on that. {via Yahoo Health}

Weekly Therapy: Jetting forward and lagging behind

- Mel

the week:
Well, I am positively exhausted. And I missed out on both Sunday Lately posts with my Blogger Tribe and am holding off on my Accountability Monday post until next week because… well, because last week’s training blog didn’t deserve its own post.

I’m catching up but now saddled with some extra, stressful shit on the homefront. SIGH. Also, I think I still have jet lag pretty bad or residual physiological exhaustion from my travel anxiety.

weekend:
This Sunday is the 5th Annual Yoga Expo at Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District. I honestly don’t remember how I found out about this event (or remember even paying for it), but I did! My participation depends on the weather/driving conditions and if I can get a long run in on Saturday instead.

We’re also visiting A BABY – and dropping off some homemade food to friends (parents of said newborn). Pending the seriousness of this incoming storm, we’ll likely enjoy some beverages with some neighbor friends.

seven things, seven days:
1. Not a lot about myself this week, but the rest of the Internet made up for it!
2. That said, I’m having lunch at Smallman Galley today and OH LOOK AT ALL THOSE GF OPTIONS! What an awesome project this is, btw.
3. Well, here’s a different perspective on procrastination. {via NYT}
4. Oooooh “hunger [as] a motivated state of mind”. What say you? {via Aeon}
5. Research on boredom – I want to read more about its effect on performance. Boredom as related to performance psychology (and its counterparts, apathy and burnout) are particularly interesting to me, and what I hope to study when I go back to pursue my graduate degree. {via Nature}
6. Got stress? You should be paying attention to your body. Includes interesting research, too, about resilience. {via NYT}
7. Have you ever ghosted your therapist? {via Psychology Today}