Ah, the one thing that rings true for almost every human at this moment in time – being stuck in a loop. One of the many things the pandemic has forced upon us. I am, like most of the people reading this, annoyed. And I wonder if there is an end (I’m sure there is, but when will it come?).
As I write this post, I find it tricky to concentrate because the topic is as dull as my daily routine. But I’ll power through and try to make it half interesting – I owe you that much for the time you’re dedicating to me/my blog.
Let me tell you what my every day looks like. I wake up around 6:15-6:30 every weekday morning. Quick side note here – I’m sure my mother is still quite surprised that I manage to do this every day, considering that half a decade ago, I used to go to sleep at that time. I know, I know. That’s not healthy, blah blah blah. But there was nothing better to do at the time. And nothing is quite as nice as the quiet of the night (I might need to tweak that sentence, but there’s an IKEA mattress ad in there).
Coming back to my daily routine, I do my workout first thing in the morning. Start the day off right. Doesn’t matter how I feel when I wake up – anxious, sad, happy – the workout always puts me in a good mood. Then I take a shower and have my breakfast. While I eat, I either scroll endlessly on social media (mostly Twitter) or speak to my mom/sister (this is what I do most of the time).
Even my conversations with them have become some sort of routine. There’s not much happening in any of our lives, so it’s mostly a recap of the previous day (in most cases, nothing of note happens) followed by 15 minutes of “and?” All of this in my native tongue, of course. Another quick side note here – it’s kinda wild how the English language has taken over my life. Even when I talk to my family, I can’t string more than three sentences together in Tamil. So, I inevitably switch to English.
After that, I go to my home office (just a desk and chair in my living room) to tackle a new workday. At this point, it’s usually around 9:00. I do a day’s worth of work – meetings, projects, wasting time (which, for some reason, has been more common than I’d like so far in 2022. Our clients have been MIA). Next thing I know, it’s around 17:30-18:00, so I decide what to cook for dinner (which is usually also lunch the following day) and get started.
While I eat my dinner, I watch an episode or two of a TV show (currently re-watching Bojack Horseman) and then read a little. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to read at least twenty-five books in 2022 (I would love to double that number, but let’s see), and, so far, I’m on track. Around 21:45-22:00, I meditate (another New Year’s resolution) and then get ready for bed. Most nights, I’m asleep by 22:45. The routine continues the following day without missing a beat.
Weekends are slightly different, but not really. I clean around the house, do my laundry, go grocery shopping, and do everything else I need to do on Saturday. Sundays are my rest/cheat day, so I wake up late (around 9:30-10:00) and have a heavy brunch and dinner (complete with dessert, the one time in the week that I’m allowed to indulge).
So, you see, it’s no lie that I’m stuck in a loop. Every day is the same as the previous one. Now, I might be exaggerating because I do hang out with my friends quite a bit. Every weekend of January, there was some kind of gathering. But not nearly enough to make up for the rest of the week, you know what I mean?
It’s times like these I miss having my family around. I’m sure I’d still be bored, but maybe a little less? Also, it’s times like these when I hate Canada. Everyone lives so far from each other, and, more often than not, it feels like you have to set up an appointment to meet your friends. Do you know how wild that is? A stark contrast to how life was like when I was in India.
Things were different when I lived in India. My friends had a lot of free time (and so did I), and we lived only about 10-15 minutes away from each other. So, it was easier to meet. I used to hang out with them almost every day. Sometimes we’d go to a gaming parlour, sometimes chill at someone’s home. Good times.
Writing about them reminds me of a day (this has nothing to do with the blog topic, but I just must share) when a friend and I were extremely bored. Like, no exaggeration, but I don’t think I’ve ever been that bored in my life. My friend called me up and asked me what I was doing. My answer (and this was default at the time) was nothing. So, I went over to his place. We were still bored as fuck! So, we called a DJ friend and asked if he could get us into his club. It was a Wednesday night, so they had a salsa night or something. We watched them for about 45 minutes and then left because we were still bored! Also, it might be important to note that we were broke as shit back then, so we didn’t want to stay for long anyway. We grabbed some food at a roadside place and then returned home to continue being bored. We still laugh about that day whenever it comes up. (Friend, if you’re reading this, hey!)
I honestly don’t know what else I can add. I guess it’s better to have a boring routine than not to have one at all. Maybe I should be happy that I don’t have to worry about a job or a roof over my head. But it’s still difficult not to hope for something more. It doesn’t have to be this way, no? If the pandemic were to end tomorrow magically, wouldn’t our daily lives still be more or less the same? Do you think it’s just a seasonal thing? Maybe things won’t seem as mundane when it’s not cold as shit. I don’t know.
I have been considering volunteering on weekends. Help people and get to make new friends. But most of the openings I have found so far are virtual. * Insert Robert Downey Jr.’s eye-roll GIF *
I hope things get more interesting soon. I’m considering getting a dog – I have to speak to my landlord and ask them if it’s okay, but in case they are, I’ll probably get one. Maybe that’s the change I need?