After slacking off the previous week, the past week had been relatively busy and tiring.
Much of my time and effort was spent cleaning up the studio to prepare for some important guests to visit on Sat. Another large chunk of time was spent outside the studio to meet with friends and family, that included dinner with parents and sister on Monday, lunch with a couple of old friends on Wed., lunch meeting with a friend on Thur., and farewelling a couple of friends on Fri. afternoon.
The lunch and studio visit on Sat. was carried out smoothly. The guests kept saying my studio felt like a gallery more than a workplace. That seemed over flattering, but the studio indeed felt much welcoming and pleasant to work in after a week of big cleanup.
Was really tired when I got home on Sat., struggled a few times before successfully pulling my tired body out for an evening run. Felt really good after overcoming my mental struggles and completing the planned run!
Had been slacking from work this past week. The most meaningful work I had done in the studio was reviving my ancient CNC machine that had been sitting collecting dust for I don’t know how many years.
A friend visited the studio on Mon. afternoon, so I spent most of the day with him. Took a day off on Tue. for a house gathering to farewell a couple of friends. We happily chatted and dined and chatted again with more alcohol from 4pm to around midnight! Knowing that Typhoon 8 would be hoisted the next day, I slept in and wasted the entire day at home on Wed. Thur was my usual day off as I had my weekly calligraphy class scheduled in mid-afternoon. Also enrolled in evening workshops to learn about traditional Chinese paper backing techniques on Thur., finished the last of 4 weekly classes that night. Got to the studio late in the afternoon on Fri., and had to leave early to meet my parents and their financial partners for dinner.
The most productive day was Sat. I woke up early to do laundry and some light cleaning of the apartment before heading back to the studio to revive the ancient CNC machine. Was planning to go for a run after dinner, but I was too sleepy and decided to slack off.
There goes the first week of Nov., next week should be a better week!
The past week was probably the best week I had since returning to this city in mid-Sept. Took a day off on Wed. to visit the M+ Museum for the first time with a friend. Felt like a tourist in this city that seems to be getting more and more unfamiliar to me.
Met and caught up with some fellowship brothers over dinner on Fri. I stopped going to fellowship since the pandemic broke out in late 2019, but my fellowship brothers still kept me in the group and welcomed me to many gatherings outside the fellowship. Also bumped into another old fellowship brother on my way to subway after dinner. We only chatted briefly on the street as I was kinda rushing back home for my scheduled evening run, nonetheless, I was really glad to see him and his wife and kid healthy and well.
Sat. was the highlight of the week. A good old friend and his wife visited Kowloon Bay to gather materials for their ongoing travel blog. We met up for coffee before I showed them around my studio and the neighborhood. Chatted with them for a good amount of time and it seemed to have helped me clear up my mind from the problems that have been troubling me since returning from summer vacation. We parted ways before evening came because I need to meet and farewell some friends that night.
My high school friends organized a farewell dinner gathering for a couple who will be moving to UK in less than two weeks. Many people showed up, it may actually be one of the biggest gathering we had since COVID started. We ate and chatted and laughed at many funny high school memories. It will probably be a long while since this group of friends will be together again, so we cherished that evening as much as we could.
I’m grateful that God allowed me to cross path with so many good friends in life. Never thought there would come a time when I needed to part ways with so many of them. It’s sad, but there’s nothing I can do besides trying my best to cherish the time we get to spend together. May God bless them wherever they go. 🙏🏻
Seems like I’m slowly getting out of the rut and finding interests in my work once again. Spent a lot of time in the past week trying to 3D print with filaments that was upcycled from bottle caps (HDPE). Had tens of failed prints and a few late nights of troubleshooting in the studio before I was finally able to complete a 30min print on Friday! Time flies when I was engaged in interesting work.
Met up with a couple of UW friends for dinner on Wed. Happy to finally meet and catch up with these old friends.
Went to a friend’s wedding ceremony and banquet yesterday. Thought I was just one of many b&s from the fellowship who was invited, but it turned out that the friend didn’t invite too many b&s to the banquet. Felt honored to be invited and delighted to share the good friend’s happy celebration.
Happy times don’t come easily nowadays in the city and I shall cherish them as much as I could when the opportunities arise!
Still feeling lost and a lack of purpose and motivation to work. Don’t have any immediate projects and deadlines to meet, and I’m not too eager to initiate any new projects either. What’s the point of making myself busy for the sake of killing time? Not really in the mood for entertainment either. I can’t seem to find joy in anything when I know so many people in the city and around the world are suffering. Feels like living without a soul. Is this what depression feels like?
Decided to pick up running again. The last time I ran was nearly a year ago when I survived the marathon race. Ran 2 times in the past week. The dopamine from exercising seems to help with my (self-diagnosed) depression somewhat. Running also helps by bringing me to the state of “flow” where I’m completely focused and distractions and worries become nonexistent, albeit temporary.
Will try my best to keep up with the weekly runs until the next marathon run, whenever that may be. May God help me get pass this rut and allow me to live fully again just as He intended. 🙏🏻
