It’s hard to believe only three months have passed since the last quarterly check-in. The world has been busy to say the least, with events such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the coronavirus pandemic consistently dominating current affairs. As usual, this check-in post will be an opportunity to reflect on the last three months with three questions:

1. What was good?
2. What wasn’t so good?
3. Goals for the months ahead?

Let’s get started.

The Good

1. Reading

One of my goals from the last check-in post was to read four books per month. Over the last quarter, I managed to read 11 books, which was one short of my goal. However, my fondness towards reading has only blossomed over the last few months and that seems like a great success.

I’ve mostly been reading fiction, such as the works of Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms), Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Norweigian Wood) and Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn trilogy). Reading is becoming an increasingly sacred part of my days and I’m excited to explore new worlds over time. Here’s Neil Gaiman on the power of reading which deeply resonates with me:

“Dear Person Reading This,

A writer can fit a whole world inside a book. Really. You can go there. You can learn things while you are away. You can bring them back to the world you normally live in.

You can look out of another person’s eyes, think their thoughts, care about what they care about.

You can fly. You can travel to the stars. You can be a monster or a wizard or a god. You can be a girl. You can be a boy. Books give you worlds of infinite possibility. All you have to do is be interested enough to read that first page…

Somewhere, there is a book written just for you. It will fit your mind like a glove fits your hand. And it’s waiting.

Go and look for it.”

2. Contentment

Last quarter, I was having trouble resolving some inner conflicts. Differing opinions on various narratives resulted in an internal war which led to chronic exhaustion like two lions swiping and growling at each other’s throats. However, these beasts have slowly been tamed and I’ve become content in not having all the answers. I’ll probably write more on this in the future, but I’m coming to the realisation that many great questions lack satisfactory answers. And that’s perfectly okay.

3. Relationships

I’m so, so grateful to have maintained most of my relationships over the last few months and to have also consolidated new ones. The knowledge that there are people who’ll support you and listen to you no matter how bad your day is a comfort that makes the deepest part of my existence vibrate with gentle joy.

The not–so-good

1. Discipline

Nothing new here. Still spending much more time than I’d like to scrolling through social media and consuming useless YouTube content. Think I’ll need to reread James Clear’s Atomic Habits to get over this slump – I’ve been productive before and with the right strategies, I know I can get there again.

2. Running

I recently got sidelined from running due to an Achilles injury (again). My suspicion of how this keeps flaring up looks like this:

1. Lockdown -> not much walking -> weakening of lower leg muscles.
2. Normal running regiment + weak lower leg muscles = overloading the Achilles -> injury.

While I’m recovered now, there’s no doubt a lot of fitness has been lost.

I have to admit though, the passion I once had for running is slowly dimming. The lockdown has revealed running is mostly a social activity for me – training with the Uni club, jogging with some mates etc. – rather than something I do for purely leisure. Perhaps at one stage, running did serve that meditative function in my life but it’s now gone, perhaps replaced by the secrets hidden within books.

Goals

1. Maintain reading a book a week.
2. Maintain posting here twice a week.
3. Re-read Atomic Habits and aim for less time spent on the phone per day (aim: <1hr).