The Ski Machine, Reading, YouTube, French, Playlists, and a Mini-Podcast?
This time around I’ve been a little preoccupied, but I want to continue writing these progress updates. So, here we go.
Anyone else feels like these weeks just flew by?
Just me? Currently Maintaining An Exercise Routine
I’m still exercising, mostly every other day. I may have missed a few days over the past two weeks. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m still making progress and showing up. Since I last wrote here, I’ve increased the ski machine distance to 2200m (still level 10). My goal was to get the time under 12 minutes. I was able to do that after my first session. Below are photos from my attempts after establishing a baseline of 12:30. Because of this, I’ve increased the distance to 2500m (also level 10) with a baseline time of 14:50 (I’ve lowered that time already, but I’ll save that for the next post). So far, finishing the exercise doesn’t feel like much of a hassle. The hardest part is still showing up rather than completing the exercise.
Currently Meditating And Breathing Consistently
I’m still on my meditation and breathing streak. I almost broke it one day when I became preoccupied with things outside my routine, but I’m back on track. So now, the current streak is 126 days for breathing and 127 days for meditating. It’s been helping me dream each night and recall them when I wake up.
Currently Maintaining A Reading Streak
Still thanking my library card and Libby for my current daily reading streak. So, my current reading streak is 145 days, my longest reading streak so far. Aside from The Artist’s Way, I’ve been reading a lot of leisure books. I’ll go into detail on that in another post. But one book outside of that is The Work of Art by Adam Moss, which I look forward to reading soon.
Currently Reading The Artist’s Way
Despite following the reading deprivation task, I did maintain my reading streak. But I found myself easing back into reading for pleasure rather than for sustenance. I even struggled following the reading for the week in The Artist’s Way. So, I’m officially a week behind in the course. But I won’t hold it against myself. Things happen, and I have been able to revisit the book rather than shelving it like I did four years ago. I call that progress.
Currently Learning French
I am currently on a 17-day streak with the app I use to learn French. It’s been fun, even though this is another area where I found myself more distracted than usual. But, I have been saying a few phrases aloud. This encouraged my family to ask for the meaning of what I was saying, piquing their interest into possibly exploring another language, too.
Life Update: A New Mattress
I didn’t even consider this a reason for why things have been so slow for me these past two weeks. But I got a new mattress this week. I searched high and low for a mattress that wouldn’t trigger any allergies or have any toxins in it. Who knew that would be such a daunting task to complete? I’ve found one after months of searching, hoping this could be the one. So far, so good. I could go into detail about that whole experience, but that would be best for a separate post or video. We’ll see. I’m just hoping this one works out for me.
Currently Active On youTube
I’ve uploaded a new video in a style that I’ve never considered until recently. I figured I would give it a shot after contemplating it for a few weeks. It’s been soothing to both edit and watch in its completed state. Overall, I’m happy with the outcome.
Playlist Curating
I can’t believe I didn’t mention this in the first update, but I’m in the process of editing my playlist for the year 2025. This playlist is titled “Silence.” I’ve created and edited a playlist for an entire year (2020) in the past, so I figured I’d do it again for this year. It helps keep me engaged with the music that I come into contact with over the year and makes for a good living piece of memories when listening back to it in the future. So far, it’s a work in progress, but I think it’s coming along well.
I’ve also created a few mini-playlists that describe different moods. The most recent being “The Night Ride”. They all feature a short description for the overall vibe, but I think I’ll make a separate post for that in the future to help set the tone for the experience.
This is the first time I’ve used YouTube for curating music playlists. So, I’m still adjusting to the new platform. But I find that it’s much more accessible than other platforms. Being able to create playlists and publish content on one platform has helped me ease into using this platform as one of my main creative hubs.
Currently Starting A Mini Podcast Series
I did something completely outside of my comfort zone. This seems to be a theme now that I’m writing all of this. But I recorded a voice note and published it for anyone to hear. That’s something I’ve never considered doing, and it felt a little freeing to complete it after much resistance to the idea. I had fun recording it, so it may be a new addition to the rotation of interests that I explore.
That’s my progress update for now. These updates have been grounding me when I feel like I’m not making any progress with anything. So, I’m aiming to do these about every two weeks. If I’m not here, then I’m either uploading a video on YouTube or writing something on Substack. I find myself rotating between those platforms as far as my online presence is concerned for now.
Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. I’ll see you on the next update or with my next creative project!
Missed the First Update? Check it out: “Currently” Making Progress: An Update On My Projects and Activities This Quarter
