J and I made a resolution to start a habit of journaling for 5 minutes a day – not to each other, but on our own, and to be honest, it was his idea that he was doing and I piggy-backed on it.
Because I suck at journaling. Seriously, I have a gold journal that I bought at the end of December 2013 that I still have yet to fill in it’s entirety. It is 2017 now. BUT with my new habit of daily journaling, and recording my food diaries in the same journal now, I’m on my way to finishing it in the next week or so. Five minutes goes by really quickly. It feels like too short of a time to record all the thoughts in my monkey mind.
Anyways: journaling for just five minutes a day helps me get my thoughts onto paper and it’s also made it much easier to write in general. I have another blog that I’ve written two entries for in the last week after posting maybe 3 times in the last 6 months. And my last entry about Warsaw? Completely in-the-moment. There was no planning and queuing of that entry.
Another new habit that I’ve taken on is a kundalini meditation for prosperity. I’m on day 4 of the 40 day practice. I need it now more than ever before.
If you can make one last-minute, semi-late resolution, I couldn’t recommend a daily 5-minute journaling practice more highly.
Today was most people’s first day back to work after a most likely stupidly long break for the holidays and such. I still have a week until yoga teacher training starts though, so I slept stupidly late today (for me, which is 9:40am) because Playbill wouldn’t stop meowing around 7am. Anyways, I had a series of small wins today and I wanted to log them here and hope it inspires you guys to log your own tiny wins:
AM Pilates Session: Last week I used Perkville points to book a 30 minute private pilates session and today was the day. It was my first time using pilates equipment and it was pretty interesting. I still like yoga better but I think I need to incorporate pilates at least once a week into my regimen.
Sushi Lunch: Is sushi healthy? I caught up with an old work friend that I hadn’t seen in a month or more. We’re not super close, but it was good to see her. We went to Sushi Yusaka on 72nd street and it was really good. You know it’s going to be good when they haven’t opened the doors yet and there are already 20 people outside waiting to get in. I didn’t get any tempura rolls, so that’s a win for healthy eating right there.
To Do Lists: I combined my two different to-do list apps into one. And added a bunch of additional things “to do.”
Dairy Free: Another day dairy free! Note: I was not meat-free. Just giving myself a week off from consuming dairy. Second note: I’ve been way less bloated since Sunday!
Meditated Twice: Morning meditations are easy. I get up, I pee, I meditate. It’s the afternoon ones that I’ve been struggling to remember to do (mostly because it was the holidays, but whatever), but today I managed to sit for a second time.
Cooked: I made some kind of risotto and I’m about to make a big bowl of tabouli. I’ll also spiralize a bunch of vegetables to have on hand.
Cleaned Up: I went through a couple of boxes that’ve been hiding under my bed and filed or threw away a big pile of papers. #declutteringFTW
Emails: In a moment of What’s Next panic last night, I sent a bunch of emails to a few recruiters that I know and a few contacts in the entertainment industry about any possible jobs. I received responses from all of my entertainment industry peeps and that made me feel really good. I made a couple of appointments with two recruiters this week, just so I’m at a good place when training is over, should I decide to take on a FT role again (as opposed to working several different part-time gigs, etc.).
Reading: I finished Breaking Vegan after only 2 days. It’s super inspiring and I truly believe that Jordan Younger is an actually fantastic person (this is just an assumption as I’ve not met her in person!). I’m not vegan, and never plan on being vegan, but this was a great read regardless. Next up: Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin. I’ve read her other two books so I’m looking forward to reading this one, too.
I finished reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, this weekend and I have to say that I liked it a lot. It wasn’t all Pollyanna-And-Life-Is-Wonderful. She had resolutions to keep each month that she thought would help her be happier and be more presently appreciating her already-happy life more than she had been. She also had a lot of statistics and scientific data from the plethora of research she did before and during her project.
Before she planned out her monthly resolutions, she made a list of her 12 commandments, one of which was “Be Gretchen,” and stop trying to be someone she wasn’t (and to stop trying to force herself to like things that she wished she liked). This made me think about if I was “being Allison” often enough.
I often feel bad that I don’t like going to museums and viewing art and paintings more. I think I should. But I don’t – I mean, sometimes I do, but more often than not, museums bore the hell out of me. I used to feign interest in football when I had friends who spent every Sunday in bars watching the games, but I gave that up after my bar-going days had ceased. Everyone is telling me to watch “House of Cards” and “Breaking Bad” but after watching an episode of each (or half an episode), I was bored by both. A vast majority of TV shows just don’t do it for me.
So what does make me happy? Theatre. Going to the occasional movie. Cooking. Organizing my apartment (yup). Reading. Long walks around New York. Yoga. Running. Coffee shops. Writing. Concerts. Guitar. Music. Eating out. Making smoothies. Tea. Green Day. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. Weezer. John Lennon. The Beatles. Strawberry Fields. Blueberry bagels. Farmer’s markets. My friends.
I’m sure there are a host of other things too, but those are the ones that come to mind first, so I’m assuming those are the most important. So, as much as I wish I loved art, and museums, and popular TV shows, and see popular movies, but I don’t.
And that’s OK. It’s OK to “be Allison.”
Happiness is….This is what I’m currently reading and I’m definitely enjoy it. Who couldn’t use a little bit more happiness in their life even if they’re already happy?
That Girl Allison 