The first day of SOC #3 was a big success as I completed all the tasks which was expected as it was Day One and motivation and discipline were high. However, I missed piano on Day Two with the assumption I would make it up later in the week. This didn’t happen. Skipping and planning to make up for piano on other days continued as a theme into Week Two with the same rate of success (which was poor). I was able to make up one missed practice, but the other ones were promised and not delivered. I believe my lack of consistency with piano is simply due to the amount of effort it takes me to sit down and learn as reading music doesn’t come easily to me and my hand and eye coordination is lacking. Maybe I should have played more video games.
The same internal pushback happened with the intense stretching sessions as well. I did some, but not all. Stretching feels good and I believe flexibility and mobility are a must for healthy living (and aging), which is why I have no “excuse making” for those. Unfortunately, intense stretching kind of hurts and I push, push, push off the task and tell myself I’ll do it in the evening or after working out, but that rarely comes to fruition. I need to fix this by either getting it over with in the morning or making it part of my workout since I have a decently high-rate of success with working out. In general, the only time I miss a workout is when my body is sore from a prior lifting session or I’m out all day and don’t find time to get a workout in.
The two Study Sessions each week were both completed, though each one took longer than I expected. I have to continue with ~35 pages or one chapter a session or I won’t be able to complete the overall goal in time. On “catch up” or “off” days I may get started early on the Study session so I can spread the reading out a bit. There was a slight change in my schedule so on Week 2 and beyond, my Monday and Tuesday tasks have switched places. Although this was an unplanned change, I still had the same amount of time in my week so I had no issues making it work (apart from the tasks I missed).
Perhaps it’s the time of year (upcoming New Year’s Resolutions) or a nasty habit of “future planning” wherein everything is possible there, but I’ve already been mentally drafting what skills I plan to work towards on the next SOC and I’ve decided that I want to circle back to crocheting since my current abilities only permit me to create square or rectangular shapes with yarn. This came about because I spent time with my cousin last week where she gifted me a crocheted hedgehog and pillow that she had recently completed in her evenings before bed. She’s nine. After taking one class over summer break at the library (same as me where she only learned the basic stitch), she has continued to teach herself and basically wing-it on crocheting everything from small animals to fruits and pillows. She is fantastic and an inspiration to how self-teaching and practice can turn small skill into large skill. I still have a strong desire to knit my nearly hairless dog a pair of pants, partially as a cute gag and partially as a way to keep him warm since he’s constantly snuggling under blankets, so crocheting will be in my next SOC.
It’s interesting and eye-opening how fast children can pick up talents when they try. I’ve written before how I have regrets about all the wasted time I’ve spent and watching my young cousins take guitar, art, etc. in school makes me desire to go back to school or find a place where I can learn new things. The county library is a great resource for some of these, but since nothing like that is compulsory or offered to a high degree of difficulty, I’m on my own for most things. The exception would be if I ever got particularly good at something, such as piano or cello (a dream of mine has always been to learn the cello as I think it has a beautifully haunting sound), where a private tutor may get me to a higher level. There is something a little bittersweet if that were to ever happen though (I do not foresee it) because there’s no chance that I could ever be good enough or have the right connections to perform for anyone but family and friends. There are just some dreams that have to die, especially if you didn’t choose that road early in life.
Giving myself a full day and a half off in this SOC has been a happy choice and everything feels less stressful than previous SOCs. I still have a goal of having at least one perfect week and believe I’ll make it happen.
- GREEN= COMPLETED
- YELLOW= COMPLETED ON A DIFFERENT DAY
- RED= NOT COMPLETED
