littlewonderlog

I keep putting in foreign language content so that it will someday come instinctively, automatically, and unconsciously.

My husband and I are spontaneous.

We don’t plan for a trip in detail in advance, and we usually choose our destination on the morning of a holiday (sometimes nothing is decided even after leaving home).

What’s useful for us bohemians for a spontaneous trip is a map app.

I’ve created a ‘Let’s hit the road’ folder on a map app, and I save interesting places I pick up while watching TV, talking to a friend, or watching online videos, etc. Then on a holiday, I scroll through that list. Out of so many places, there’s one that goes well with my mood for that day. If I feel like going somewhere close, I sort the folder by distance and choose a place, or I just choose wherever I like.

Hmm, talking about a spontaneous trip makes me want to go on one.

I pursue a modest workout and I’m the one who’s responsible for my ankles.

That’s why I don’t necessarily aim for the top of the mountain. Instead, I just set a time. “Let’s do 40 minutes today.” I set an alarm for 40 minutes later.

While smelling the forest and daydreaming as we climb, when the alarm goes off, I say, “Oh, now let’s go down and eat something.” When my body feels a bit lighter, I say, “Shall we go a little bit further?” When I’ve sweated enough, we head straight down.

40 minutes plus 40 minutes is 80 minutes, which is 1 hour and 20 minutes. For an ex-workout-hater, it’s pretty good.

This has its own charm, different from diligently climbing toward the top.

If we see a beehive, we look at it for a while, and if we hear a woodpecker, we look around to find it.

There’s the charm of free mountain climbing.

My husband asked me why I was doing the splits (or, to be more precise, trying to do the splits), while my face was distorted with excruciating pain (such a drama queen!).

Well, boy, it’s the same reason why you are doing the planche, with your whole body trembling.

It’s just because.

I’ve started doing a short meditation before starting my work.

As I usually did meditation in the early morning or late at night before going to bed, it’s actually the first time for me to do it in the midmorning before work. I’ve been doing it with about 5-minute-long guided meditations on Audible, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. It seems to clear my mind after all the fuss in the morning and help me get ready to work with optimized productivity.

My head and eyes feel clear like right after waking up, and there’s this strange feeling of openness and coolness around my spine and shoulder blades.

Now, fulfilled and ready to work.

It’s been 5 days since I made a big fuss about my butt touching the floor for the first time in my life even for a millisecond during a front split. Today (brace yourselves people, it’s a big one), I finally managed to sit on the floor during a front split with my left leg straight forward. As expected, it was a brief moment, yet I sat down. S. A. T. My hands were on the floor but with no weight imposed on them. They were just there minding their own business. Already heated up with some squats and running, my forehead and neck were sweating profusely. Oh, wow, it’s so liberating.

The doubt – “Will I ever be able to do the splits?” – is slowly fading away. I mean, I should be, with this progress. Even with the right leg facing forward, and the side split as well. They have to work. There’s no other option.

I’m enjoying this fulfilling day, even better than yesterday, with less doubt and more conviction.

I mean, what’s the big fuss? (Sorry, can’t help it. It’s a chronic disease.)

Baking is fun, even on a wheat-free diet.

It’s fun to see the roughly mixed dough becoming smooth and glowing with time. It’s fun to smell the fermented flour and basil while stretching the dough. It’s fun to see the dough more than doubling after a good sleep in the fridge. It’s fun to see the dough making air bubbles while being folded and moved to a pan. It’s fun to see the dough rising after 10 minutes in the oven. It’s fun to feel the soft and puffy texture of the bread while smelling its golden aroma.

Baking is fun, even on a wheat-free diet.

Everything is hard the first time. Always.

Not knowing how to do it makes it hard, and even if you know how to do it, not being used to it makes it hard. Is there anything easy the first time? If you don’t know how to do it, you should learn it. If you can’t do it, you should do it more.

And since you’re already doing it, you might as well do it while enjoying it, feeling fulfilled, and cherishing every moment.

Although I’ve cut out wheat for the past 12 months, I still bake bread.

It’s for 1 or 2 slices for my husband’s lunch. If he eats it all up too fast, it’s too much of a hassle for me as it usually takes longer than 20 hours for a single pan. If he eats it all up too slowly, I have to wait too long to bake even when I want to. I bother him when he eats the bread too fast, and I bother him when he eats it too slowly.

The golden mean is important. It’s especially important even when it comes to domestic bread enforcement.

In mid-May, now midday walks have become a dangerous move.

The sun is scorching, my skin is burning, and the air is roasting. At this point in time, the best time to take an afternoon walk for me is 7:30 p.m. It’s bright enough to walk around, yet there’s no skin0burning sunlight.

Now, midday walks have become a dangerous move.