Life Lately | Spring 2021: Quaranthings, Slow Mornings and Writing

Hello lovelies! 🌸 Welcome to my personal narrative series entitled 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓛𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓵𝔂. You will get to know me better about my real-life whereabouts and inspirations in my own nutshell and adventures. If you are following me since my Words and Rhythm days, I committed to this monthly happy things blog posting. Life is not all sunshine so sharing loops of my ups and downs would make this personal narrative series more relevant, engaging, and authentic.

As I begin now with Musings of Lovely, I decided to publish on a quarterly basis as it is also inspired by the four seasons: spring , summer, autumn, and winter. I live in a tropical country but I desire to experience those four seasons so might as well feel it on my blog.

Quaranthings in the Dwelling

We have all our own way of dealing with the prolonged quarantine period. Most of us rekindled our passion in doing something we love such as painting, cooking, sports, etc. I have a lot of things in mind if I have to share my favorite things I do during the time of quarantine that I think should have a separate blog for details. haha!

To share the most significant things I made time for this quarantine, here is the list:

• yoga and meditation
• journaling (when in my mood)
• writing blogs again
• playing the guitar | check my channel here: The Lovely Rhythm
• Netflix and Chill
• Walk with dogs
• rediscover skincare
• meal prep (not cooking; mom is still in charge of it)

How about you? What made you cope up during this period?

Slow and Calm Mornings

I love slow mornings! One best thing about freelancing is the flexibility of your time. When I am employed full-time, I am always in a rush waking up every morning – rush breakfast, rush toothbrush and everything rush. Now, I believe slow mornings is the best time for me in the day because I spent it for self-care, yoga and a time for prayer. I learned how to savor this moment I never had before. 😉

Oh, I also do my readings (physical book) during this time. It helped me finished a book because I am such a slow reader. I am more focused this time because I am not setting up my laptop yet so there are no distractions. By the way, I am reading “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life” every morning. I am on my way to finishing it; then, hopefully, can write a book review to share with you.

On Character Testing

Like I said, life is not full of sun shines. Experiencing a year-long quarantine brought some bumps and ouch in life. I am sure you understand this feeling as well. I turned 30 this year so there are a lot of expectations from my family in all aspects of my life. At some point, I battled this frustration alone because how would you do it if you are judged inside your home. I feel stuck in a rut (hey, 2 years passed but didn’t flag any milestones yet). Then, it agitates when you peek in social media seeing everyone getting back on track and flagging new milestones. Hello, I feel like a real vulnerable human now.

Related Link: Take Heart, 30

Fortunately, I learn already how to process my own feelings. If I feel terribly sad, I allow myself to cry on my bed or during shower time (because tears come with the flow of water). Journaling is also a part of the process. I write the reasons for this heavy feeling with all honesty and by the end of it, I link a bible verse from my inspirational books to reflect. Lastly, I speak to some confidants about this feeling then I feel comforted knowing I am not alone in the journey. Some people have a worse situation than I; and heck, who am I to complain?

Respect our timelines. Trust God in the Process.

Writing is Sweet and Sour

In 2020, I feel excited and grateful to have side-by-side writing gigs – sweet, right? It did help me cope up financially after that pause from a teaching job in a review center. I can say I have become a full-fledged “freelance writer” in the entire quarantine period. It is hard getting back to teaching even online because many are taking online teaching jobs as well. I decided to settle as a writer and be versatile as I can: from writing web content, marketing scripts, book trailer scripts to reviews, press releases for authors, and educational learning materials. In my mind, I should have known that this is possible; that I can earn from being a writer online gaining even higher income than my teaching jobs before! *facepalm*

That’s the sour part about it – the regret.

In 2021, I realized that my dream is only to write but God wants me to do something more meaningful in this world. Probably, he prepared me with my past job experience for the call for teaching and even gained eligibility for this profession. For now, I don’t know what exact role I will do next for good so I keep praying to God that he prepare me for it. As a saying goes: God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. It is really a challenge for me to answer his call and up to now, I am in a work in progress. I have a lot of work to do in my faith journey. 🙂

One day, I should be back with a ready heart. Not driven only by money, but also by a higher purpose.

Respect your calling. Ask God for Wisdom.

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If you can relate to my Life Lately post, leave some comments below of what experience and reflections you had this prolonged quarantine? You can also suggest what topic in life I can discuss on my blogs.

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