My life since the last update

I haven’t been actively updating this blog for several months now. That does not mean that I have completely abandoned it. I am currently going through some major reshuffling in my life. My priorities in life changed since the last update and I am still sorting it out.

Rest assured, however, is that it is all for the better. I am looking forward to new things, and new experiences, especially in 2022 as I will reach an important milestone in my life. I will share it with you when the time comes. At the same time, I am also cleaning up some of the mess I made, sorting it through, and thinking hard about what truly makes me happy and what ultimately does not. Essentially, I am ‘Marie Kondo’ing’ my life.

Photography is no more.

For starters, as a photography enthusiast, suffice to say, for now, I have decided to completely abandon the hobby. It is sad. I love photography, but my lack of opportunity to truly exercise my passion has made me re-evaluate if it is worth spending time on. In the end, I have decided to drop it and the first order of business was to sell my prized possession, the Fujifilm X-Pro 3 camera that I bought in 2019, alongside any accessories and lenses that I have bought that accompanied the body.

Yes, I have made the painful and sad decision to let go of all my gear in a grand effort to simplify my life, evaluate the things I possess and keep the things that still make me happy. Sadly, the camera did not make the cut. On the flip side, I am glad that the camera is sold to someone who will make good use of it. I am confident that the new owner will cherish the camera as much as I did when I first bought it. Truly the camera deserves a second chance and the new owner will definitely not take it for granted.

I am still working out consistently.

When I bought the Nike Pegasus 38 running shoe back in October 2021, I started running and working out at the gym. Glad to say that I still do that two to three times a week, every week without fail. I look forward to October 2022, when I can confidently say that I have been working out consistently for an entire year. At this point, I am still enjoying it. Even better, I now feel truly uncomfortable if I were to skip my scheduled workout. It has become such a habit and a part of my life that to stop doing it altogether now feels so wrong, especially when I have made so much effort to come so far. To just throw it down the drain and start from scratch just because I feel lazy is such a repulsive idea now.

Two things kept my motivation. First, the new Nike Pegasus 38 running shoe that I bought back in October is by far my favourite running shoe ever. It gives me so much joy in running on that shoe, especially on a treadmill.

I love the shoe so much that I bought a special edition asymmetrical colour scheme that Nike launched a few months after. It was such a radical colour scheme that I did not have the heart to wear it until now. I have kept that shoe in the closet for months and only recently do I have had the courage to wear it out.

Nike recently released the Pegasus 39. I am going to skip that since I already have two pairs of Pegasus 38. What am I going to do with the Pegasus 39 if I were to buy them? My current pair that I use for my workouts are still in great condition since I only use them on a treadmill and treadmill runs are my main form of running now.

As for the asymmetrical colour design, I will start wearing it more often to ease the transition to a new pair as the older pair wears off. These running shoes are tough and durable and will take a long time to truly wear them off. That’s why I am not buying the Pegasus 39. I may however buy the Pegasus 40. I believe 2023 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Pegasus line of running shoes and I am pretty sure that Nike will do something to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Pegasus shoes. Who knows, Nike might do something radical to the shoes’ design next year. I will definitely keep my eyes on the lookout when it launches next year.

My second motivation is the Conqueror running app. I am still taking part in virtual runs organised by the app and collecting medals for the virtual runs that I signed up for. Recently, I got the Camino de Santiago medal for completing the 772km run. The reason why I slowed down the medal collection was that I signed up for the super long virtual runs of at least 500km and more. I still have yet to complete the Icelandic Ring Road and Grand Canyon virtual runs. Those are super long runs that will take me months to complete.

Having said that, the app does motivate to not stop running.

I have been reading lots of books, more than 2021.

It is now the month of June, the middle of 2022. I set a goal to read 30 books in total for the year on my Goodreads account. So far I have read 24 books already. That is 11 books ahead of schedule. I am making great timing and will easily surprise my reading goals for the year. I have read some great ones so far, but surprisingly, none of the books I have read deserves to be on my ‘All-time favourite’ bookshelf. Books that deserve to be on that shelf are considered exceptional to me and so far, none of the books I read this year has made the cut. Have I made bad decisions in deciding which books to read? Maybe not. The books I chose to read so far were wonderful. Maybe my standards have gone up significantly. However, I may have a book that I am currently reading that deserves to be my all-time favourite. Even better, it’s a six-part series of sci-fi novels. Will all 6 books be exceptional? Time will tell.

So that is it basically for now as to what has been happening in my life. I promise I will update more in the coming days. This blog is definitely not dead yet.