May you be healthy and well 🙏

Dear Friend,

Hey, how’s it going? I’ve been finding myself quite ungrounded this month between the new job, the “everything” market crash, yet another surge in COVID cases, and the horrific shootings in Buffalo and Texas. There had also been other general annoyances and hurdles that placed me squarely at my biggest pet peeve — what I call “at step 3 of 7” — where I’m not quite starting and not quite done. Instead I’m just stranded somewhere neither here nor there.

Like, my new job has a “return to office” policy of up to 3 times a week, but with the latest surge in COVID cases there are now vague expectations (and directions) between corporate, my manager, and my own comfort level. Do I go into the office one, two, or three times a week? And if so, should I drive down with my car with a broken AC (something that’s fixed last week, thankfully) when gas is at $6.30 per gallon, or do I spend 1.5 hour each way in a shuttle full of people?

There are other examples like that, and I know these are annoyances at best — I am healthy and safe at the end of the day. I’m just having trouble finding my footing amidst these ambiguities and last-minute changes, and these “wait and see” moments can leave me feeling a bit impatient, irritated, and uncertain.

But anyways, here are some of the things I did this month:

• 🏃🏻‍♂️ Ran 10.61 miles (average 3.53 miles per run) this month, down from 13.74 in April.
• 🚶🏻 Walked 40.63 miles (average 1.84 miles per walk) this month, down from 51.64 in April.
• 🧘🏻‍♂️ Meditated 21 days (average 22 minutes per session), down from 27 days in April.
• 🕰 I haven’t been diligent with my intermittent fasting habit, but I’m easing back to 17 hours durations as I find my footing next month!
• 📷 Here are some of the photos I took in May (link should be viewable in any browser)

🧋 Social Gatherings:

• Dinner with Livi & Lucian
• Birthday celebration with Ian

Here are the things I enjoyed and would recommend this month:

• 📺 TV: This is Us (Hulu). Most of you know that I’ve loved Mandy Moore unironically since the very beginning, yet for some reason I haven’t dove in to this beloved series until now. Even as my IGN friends urged me to watch it back in 2016, I just didn’t want to get “even more emotional” that year. Now that I’m finally watching it, I’m slowly remembering the tidbits my friends told me about, and why my love for Mandy Moore remains decades after Candy.
• 🎤 Podcast: The Problem with Jon Stewart (Apple Podcast) While the TV series is great and stand on its own, there has only been eight episodes in the past year whereas this podcast has been ongoing. The interviews in these podcast episodes also go way more in-depth, and with people often providing detailed counterpoints to the show.
• ▶️ YouTube Sundries: Michael Che on comedy and controversy

🙏 Monthly Gratitude:

• Thank you Dreya for helping me connect with your dad on fixing my car’s AC.
• Thank you Ian for your patience and your love as we celebrate your birthday month!
• Thank you to my aunt and my brother for treating my parents so well in Thailand.

🤔 A Moment of Zen: What would you do if you find yourself an extra hour of complete free time right now? Would you take a bath, or go for a walk? Would you water your plants, or play videogames? And is this something you can fit in today or this week after all?

And that’s about it for the month of May! I hope it’s interesting for you as it was nice for me to recap for the month. What are you up to and how are you doing? Let me know what you’ve been up to please — it seriously makes my day 🙂

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Love wins