January Journal: Day 10

[unikorento]

What do you do to relax/unwind?machinistm

 

I wish I could write something healthy and cozy here. You know, like "I take walks in nature and read a book with a cup of tea." And, mind you, I enjoy both of those things and I do find them relaxing, but they're not what I do every day for relaxation purposes, oh, no. Day-to-day, post-work unwinding isn't instagram material. 

I play mobile games and listen to the news. That's it. I also do it while twisting my body into some convoluted pretzel shape that messes up my shoulders and neck because I can't be assed to sit on a couch like an ordinary human. I can do it for literally hours on end if I have the time, but even when I'm in a rush, I'll do it for a few minutes during the day or before getting ready for bed. It's what I was doing before I started typing up this entry. I play game after game of something dumb like Clash Royale or Candy Crush or Sudoku, and I have a news stream or a documentary on in the background. Mostly it's Finnish news and the Young Turks podcast. 

Doing this puts my mind in some sort of stand-by mode. I can forget any anxiety and stress (and haunting sense of perpetual failure), and my whole focus is blissfully on the game and on whatever information is being fed into my ear. I've a bad habit of playing on my phone while I watch tv or movies as well because I find it so damn relaxing, but it means that I miss chunks of the story since 50% focus is never as good as 100%. 

I used to knit or crochet instead of play, but I've lost interest. I was never particularly good. (Why does one always have to knit two socks, anyway?)

I also love listening to audiobooks while I do my make up. I've got worse skin than most (adult acne, enlarged pores etc.), so my routine takes a fairly long time. I don't mind it, though. Applying make up is insanely relaxing. I like the process. I like the way I look when I'm done, and I like experimenting with different products. I've learned not to compare my work with that of any kind of beauty gurus. I focus on the things I think are fun, and skip everything else. I also paint my nails different colours and apply excessive amounts of glitter to them, again, while listening to audiobooks. I can spend an afternoon doing and re-doing my face. (Plus side to living in a country where darkness falls early - you can walk the dog while having painted your face in colours that would put Jem & the Holograms to shame, and literally no one will notice.)

Then, obviously, there's the run of the mill geek stuff. I play video games, and I cobble together storylines for various rpg campaigns. But I don't know if I can call it unwinding, as much as it is setting foot in a whirlpool that will suck you in for anything from 1 to 24 hours, during which time nothing else seems as important as the story you're immersed in. Fun? Absolutely. Relaxing? Not so much.