I originally had an entirely different topic planned for this week, but I decided to forgo that and do my first Real Talk on Altstreamer. Maybe this is something I will do here on occasion to share what’s happening in my own world and provide some food for thought as it relates to your own. With that established, let’s get into it!
Last Month
… Was rough. I managed to get sick in two different ways (with one recovery timeline taking much longer than the other) and my AC broke, among some other hurdles. To put it mildly, most everything in my life was disrupted over the last month until basically now.
I’ll spare providing all the details, but it was a lot, to say the least. The day I wrote this personal update, I caught up on much of the cooking I was unable to do when my place was 88°F. Even as someone who is less than thrilled about cooking, it was great to prepare some healthy meals for a healthy reboot. And it was also great to get around to personal admin tasks. Usually, I find these tasks mundane and boring, but they’re quite satisfying to complete after stagnating for a bit.
All of this is to say, as cliché as it sounds, that there are periods of life that are more turbulent and intense than others, but you will get through it. Keep riding the wave and let the chaos unfold however it’s going to anyway, and it will pass soon enough. While this is hard to consider when life is good, a light at the end of the tunnel when life is rough is that nothing lasts forever.
The Future
Now that order is restored in my world, there is a lot that I’ve considered and started acting upon for months (and years) ahead. Here is what that entails.
Projects
After completing my ninth winter sweater (among many other knitting projects this year), I decided to take a break from knitting for a bit so I can redirect that time into music. Specifically for vocal training (which I have done for a year and a half now), becoming good at playing the various instruments I have, learning music theory concepts, and attending a new class series I signed up for on music production and audio engineering. I also have a sewing project or two in mind!
Health + Wellness
I realize that we only age a day at a time, but with each month seemingly passing quicker than the previous, it has made me take a harder look at what healthy habits I can form to live well in my body in all stages of life. So, I’m going about grocery shopping a bit differently, getting serious about doing a bit of targeted physical activity each day, staying hydrated, and doing some breathwork (which is now easier than ever thanks to singing!).
Continuous Evaluation
As the years have progressed, I have become a lot clearer on what I’m working toward, what I’m focusing on, and what I’m doing. This has resulted from deeply focusing on those initiatives and continuously evaluating what’s working or not and adjusting accordingly. I plan on sticking with this as I hone in on what I really want to prioritize.
And Back to Altstreamer
With all the context I’ve just provided, I want to now tie it back into Altstreamer. This Substack has been an interesting project because it has made me question how to position myself and everything I do.
In terms of what’s next here, I plan on doing a better job showing what my alternative approaches and projects actually look like with photos and videos instead of making my articles so text heavy all the time. So be sure to stay tuned for that and all the updates that are to follow.
Thanks for tuning into this first Real Talk. I hope it inspires you to do something great today!
Health and wellness was a good reminder! And the earlier we start the better we’ll feel in a few decades :D
Nine sweaters, wow! I’m almost finished with my second. They were both big cabled ordeals that look gorgeous but took forever.