4 Week Reflection

Today would mark 4 weeks since I, and many others begun (proper) isolation. And to say it has been some of the most interesting and boring 4 weeks of my life would be an understatement. I have learnt more about myself ie. I am so lazy and other skills that I have taken up and developed. 

One of the ways I've been able to resist staying in bed all day and actually do some work is to try get ready every day as if I was going out of the house - clothes, make-up, you know it. I have been trying to wake up and get ready around the same time every day - admittedly it doesn't really happen but I try and it has really helped me establish a routine, be productive and have a sense of normality.

In saying that, I also stop doing work after dinner. In the first few days I found myself staying up late, thinking about work and in the end I didn't get that much sleep. But in stopping work and focusing on myself whether that be calling friends or watching Netflix, I don't find myself thinking about work anymore and I am able to get really good sleep.

Thinking about how some of my friends have been dying in boredom, I've found it surprising and a little concerning that I've been enjoying isolation quite a lot. I think a lot of this is because I have been occupying myself by taking up hobbies that I've always wanted to do.

• I can't be the only one who's watched Youtube and always wanted to make a channel right? So... I decided to make one for the fun of it. Shameless self-promo but you can click here to see me basically embarrass myself and cook because what else would I do?

• One of my favourite videos to watch on Youtube are declutter videos. They are so satisfying to watch. If you read my blog post where I talked about what I wanted to do, I said that I wanted to declutter my room and I did! Usually when I declutter there's a few spaces that I just skip over completely and/or do half-heartedly but I did everything in full this time round and my heart was content. Another shameless self-promo but I did film and post it and you can watch it if you'd like. 

• I mentioned before when talking about my Youtube channel that I've been cooking a lot. Not being able to eat out - although I still do take-away to support local businesses (which you should too!) I have found myself cooking and baking so much that my mum has basically banned me. For some baking/cooking ideas another shameless self-promo (sorry not sorry) you can see what I've been making on my Instagram @hhiver28 or my Youtube channel because I've cooked in almost every video. 

• When we first moved into my house, I asked for a veggie patch and when the landscaping people came they built one! Originally I was really eager and involved but over the years I haven't been as interested and/or just didn't have the time. But now, I do have the time. I've planted some bok choy and herbs and that's been a really interesting experience and gardening from seeds is actually really hard :') I'm still learning and am excited to grow some other veggies.

• And of course, I've been doing the obligatory bingeing on dramas, movies and reading. This entire time I have been (and still am) reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Originally I wasn't too into the plot and the characters but since going into the second part of the novel I've been really getting into it. The language is quite hard to understand and it takes a while for me to know what's going on but if you have enough brain power to spare, I think it's something worth getting into. In the weekend that just past, The Phantom of the Opera was uploaded onto youtube and last night I had a zoom opera watching with my friends which was amazing. However, it has been taken down but we're planning to watch a new kdrama in the upcoming days. The dramas I've watched since going into isolation are Crashing Landing On You (CLOY) and When The Camellia Blooms (WTCB). My personal favourite was CLOY and I can completely understand why it was and still is so popular. Loved the plot (it's bizzare), the characters and the acting (Hyun Bin has my whole heart). WTCB was a really different drama in terms of despite there being so many plots and subplots, everything linked back to the importance of family and the sacrifices made which I think many kdramas fail to show the reality of. 

If you have been up to other things that you think are worth sharing, do comment below. I'm looking for new things to do and why not. I hope you guys are staying inside, staying safe and staying healthy. Thank you to all those who are directly involved in helping us get through these tough times and we all really appreciate your work!