Won't you join me?
Hey there! How are you doing? This whole shelter-in-place thing is really somethin’, huh? Hey, I get it. Some days I feel totally fine and can keep myself busy/to a routine, and some days the weight of the fact that we’re living through a global pandemic really hits me. So how have I been spending this time? Mostly by investing my time into things I love doing that I’m not necessarily able to do when I’m on set 12-14 hours a day. I love being on set, so that is luckily something I also love doing, but now that most projects are on hiatus, I have plenty of time to invest into the other things I love.
My days have consisted of trying to create a semblance of a schedule to stick to so I can keep a degree of normalcy and routine. Many friends of mine (and also various gyms) have been offering online workout classes that I’ve been able to take from the comfort of a living room, stretching it out to online yoga and breaking a sweat with some bands and kettlebells. I’ve been making lots of masks for family, friends, frontline hospital workers, postmen, and anyone who asks. I’ve also been spending time researching, preparing, and building a pallet garden to grow some fruits and vegetables. I’ve been spending a large chunk of time in the kitchen trying recipes that have been bookmarked and on my to-do list for quite a long time, and I’ve been taking bike rides, short runs, and relaxing walks through the neighborhood to keep my body moving and my mind healthy.
Do you have any daily rituals that provide you a sense of peace in a time otherwise full of uncertainty? I still try to find time each day for a cup of tea - a tradition and practice passed down through generations of an Irish and Irish-American family - and I still take time to practice gratitude and stay in the present as much as possible, while still also setting aside time each day to reflect.
Interestingly, however, I am considering doing a bit more reflecting and sharing stories from my time living in Europe. I've written before about my solo adventures, especially my cross-country road trip I did with my sweet Archygirl (see P.S. list below!), and while I was browsing through my hard drive the other day, I came across folders of photos from a year full of laughter, love, frustration, obstacles, challenges, travel, wonder, new friendships, new food, and old traditions with new understanding. Would you like to come along for the journey with a virtual tour of sorts of my time in Europe? We could all use a little pick-me-up nowadays, and I often find it in the natural beauty that exists in the world around us and in the relationships we form with other people. So, let's pretend we're in the photo above at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin. Won't you take a seat and join me? I’d love to share my stories and my photographs with you.
Sincerely,
Johny
P.S. - if you wanted to read through my cross-country solo adventure (semi-solo since I had my sweet Archygirl with me), I'll provide a listing of the posts in order below!
12. Chicago to Home