This has pretty much been my life for the last six months. I wake up at 8:30 and look at my phone: news, weather, emails, etc. I try to push getting out of bed as far as I can while still reporting for work by 9. Getting ready in the morning has really just come down to using the bathroom. No need to shower, no need to change clothes, but above all, no commute. I don’t even eat breakfast anymore. It used to be something quick like cereal, but that has also been excised from my morning routine. Like growing a beard, I’m using quarantine to experiment with other lifestyle changes; that’s all to say that not eating breakfast has recently morphed into a conscious attempt at intermittent fasting. We’ll see how it goes…
I am incredibly fortunate to have a full-time job and doubly fortunate to be working from home. I work 9am - 6pm, Monday through Friday. First order of business when I clock out is dinner. Ideally, I would already have something made in the fridge, but it’s not uncommon to have to whip something up on the spot (especially toward the end of the week). After dinner, I relax for a bit then get to illustrating. I used to complete an entire comic over the weekend, but that quickly became exhausting. It’s definitely more manageable to knock out a couple panels every night - that way, I at least have some time on the weekend for recreation. Around 10pm, I work out in… an unconventional and mildly embarrassing manner. I use Ring Fit Adventure. For those who don’t know, Ring Fit Adventure is a fitness game for the Nintendo Switch that has the player use a ring-shaped peripheral to perform various exercises. Its premise is absurd, the gesticulating is goofy, but I cannot lie, it can kick your butt. I’m not doing this to get buff or necessarily lose weight. It’s really just to incorporate some amount of physical activity into my day.
After working out, I shower. After I shower, I go back to illustrating. I go to bed around 12:30am to get a full eight hours of sleep, then the cycle starts all over again. Routine is good and I like staying busy. I think for as long as I am alive, I will never be bored. There is so much to enjoy, learn, and experience in the world; I can never imagine running out of things to do or make. I see all art as a medium for self-exploration and self-betterment, in both its consumption and creation. This quarantine… I would never have chosen this isolation voluntarily. I am still saddened by my lack of human contact. And yet… I’ve found some solace in it all. I am compelled to create, compelled to keep going. I don’t usually see myself as an optimist, but sometimes that side of me slips out. Expect more doom and gloom in the next post - especially when something out of the blue threatens to disrupt every aspect of my life!