The past weeks have been the busiest for me not because of the holidays but because of some task I need to prepare before the year ends. I only had the chance to take a break during the Christmas weekend then reported to work the next day. While I was scrolling on Twitter, I read this viral tweet of @EugeneLeeYang and I quote “These 6 days between Christmas and New Year is the only time of the year you should strive to do absolutely f**k*ng nothing. Make zero progress. Take all the time off. Go on vacation from your vacation. Be the least impressive version of yourself. Transform into a couch.” And this tweet made me realize how important it is to take a break before 2021 ends. So I immediately endorsed some little tasks to my teammates and went home the following day.

At home, since I am still not ready to go out and party with friends, I started focusing on the things I love doing, something that I couldn’t do whenever I am in the city working. Aside from watching movies and continuing the series I am following, I dedicated my free time to doing the following.

Reading. I have a few books which I purchased a long time ago that I still haven’t read. Some are even sealed yet. I picked “All My Lonely Islands” by V. J. Campilan, my book to finish hopefully after a week or two.

Planting. I started repotting all the plants I propagated 3 months ago. I was happy to see that most of them survived. Though there are some that dried up already. I was happy to see my tiny succulents thriving after separating them from the mother plant. Some of my pothos are growing longer and healthier as well. I started making new cuttings to propagate more of its variety.

Biking. I have my brother check and fix my bike which I haven’t used for more than 3 months. Before going to the city, I used to bike daily around the neighborhood in the morning and late afternoon. During weekends, I biked farther away from the usual route. The farthest I had biked was 70km.

Playing online games. I haven’t played any online games for quite some time. Because right after work, I practice to distance myself from any online or mobile games and even lessen my screen time to give my eyes a rest. Recently, I came across an interesting website that offers a wide variety of games that ranges from cards to logic and word games. The website is very easy to navigate and neat. But the main factor why I keep coming back to this site to play is that there’s no ads that annoyingly pop up from time to time. I always spend most of my time on Word Games. I enjoy playing Daily Crossword which reminded me of my younger years answering a crossword puzzle from the daily newspaper. I also enjoyed Letter Scramble, a very simple game that will test how wide your vocabulary is and your spelling ability.The background music is very relaxing too. Aside from word games, I find Logic Puzzle Games interesting too. This is where I go whenever I want to take a break from word games. My favorite game here is the Classic Minesweeper. This game is very nostalgic because I used to play it when I was young. Every time I play this, it always gives me that feeling of shock and excitement. It can also be played in easy, medium and difficult settings. Other games in this category include Battleship Armada, Daily Maze, Daily Kakuro and many more.

Painting. This is a new hobby I just started. Right after I experienced a painting session organized by a friend before which I really enjoyed, I started learning the basics of it to hopefully one day learn and create my first ever masterpiece.

I am looking forward to doing more of this during this holiday season. Aside from connecting with friends and family, I will allow myself to do more of what I love doing.