notes app; a change of clothes
on adequate rest, running, decluttering and big boy decisions like home deposits and oxford shirts
Namaste.
Sav here.
I actually didn’t know namaste was hello. I always just assumed it meant something along the lines of ‘peace’ or ‘greetings’, which I suppose is a form of hello - just expected it to be more formal, like ‘assalam walekum’ (Arabic for ‘peace be with you’).
This last week was marked by a lot of change - or at least, the confirmation of incoming change.
Following next month, there will be a sizeable difference in how I spend the majority of my weekdays and the structure/space/schedule of my apartment, and alongside that, a sizeable determination to uproot certain aspects of my life.
And so, I’ve been meaning to talk of change.
I won’t talk about the super major changes. They’re still in progress and in some cases rather confidential, so I want to give them the patience and privacy of developing at their own pace.
Instead, I want to flip the less-significant, more-personalised hotcakes I’ve got in the kitchen - intentions that have been lingered since forever but only existed as tangled squiggles in my head - and like anything that’s tough to picture, they’re extremely easy to procrastinate.
Let this list be not for accountability, but to frame my intangible ideas into tangible text; because writing helps clear, helps clarify, helps bring strategy to entropy.
I’m so done with getting barely enough sleep
Okay, it’s not that bad. If anything, I’m in-line with the curve that says that one-in-three adults do not get enough sleep.
My controversial opinion is that a subtle lack of sleep is just as bad as a drastic lack of sleep — You have an excuse for one of them but nobody, and especially not yourself, is going to forgive you for barely not having enough. A subtle lack of sleep undercurrents your day like the mechanical whirr of an airplane cabin, where the quality of everything is just ever-so-slightly unsatisfying, from the tingling numbness in your legs to the mushiness of overheated mashed potatoes.
The solution is simple: get eight hours of sleep. Execution is difficult, not because I struggle to fall asleep but because I have trouble putting boundaries on my time. My attempted workarounds? An alarm at 10pm. Ten-minute kindle or journal before bed. Lights going dark to signal to myself psychologically that my eyes should very much be closed right now!
Gotta go fast!
In this recent post, I proclaimed that I would shelve the barbells and adorn the running shoes, choosing cardio/endurance over strength for the next few months, prioritising leanness over shape.
I then proceeded to barely do any exercise at all.
Regular fitness is difficult to slot as a taken, 9-to-5 corporate man who has trouble setting boundaries. Place it in the morning then I won’t get enough sleep. Place in the evening and it interferes with relationship time. Place it in the sweet spot of the middle of the day, and it gets deprioritised by the fanning flow of work.
Let this be a reminder to myself that we cannot find them, we make time.
There’s also the fact that weight loss is actually more decided by eating less, which has also become an increasingly difficult activity because honestly: I am a little stressed out! Here’s to uh, fixing that.
My room deserves more love
Now that I have a bit more certainty about how my life will look these next six months, it is fair time to declutter my bedroom.
I like my room. Its got its disgusting spots, but I genuinely think it’s neater than a vast majority of university students’ rooms, a fact that my mom thinks I’m hallucinating/coping on but also not the fairest comparison.
With the amount of random garbage accumulated in boxes over the last seven years, it’s about time for a complete deep clean - summon my inner Mari Kondo, hold every dusty piece in my hand and ask whether it sparks joy.
I won’t get anything too big for the time being, but some things I’d love to get are:
A cheap projector
A cool lamp
A standing mirror
Buttoned up!
My wardrobe is filled almost exclusively with Uniqlo U Airism Oversized Tees, but my style journey and new work requirements now mean I need a lot more collared shirts in my wardrobe.
I used to hate collared shirts as a kid. I found them itchy, unnecessary, and they never seemed to fit me right. However, I’ve not only grown more accustomed to them but actually appreciate the elegant, elevated look they give - especially on someone who often dresses overwhelmingly casual.
Side tangent: Why is glow-up men’s fashion simply a return to timeless pieces like oxford shirts, loafers, derbies, classic jeans, dress pants, blazers, etc. that vehemently shit on graphic tees, baggy jeans and sports shorts? On the opposite trend, glow-up women’s fashion sports an incredible range that can stretch from elevated classics, sparkle-dusted Y2K attire, effortless athleisure and pretty much everything in between? Part of me likes that because it significantly lowers the bar for a man to ‘look good’ but at the same time, it strikes me as boring and uninspired. Zoeunlimited has a hilarious series called ‘Is it an outfit or is he just a man?’ that really highlights what I’m talking about.
For better or for worse, I’ll be joining the Ralph Lauren but not Ralph Lauren club. Dress shirts for the weekday. Polos for the weekend. Quarter-zips, chelsea boots, coach jackets galore.
Frankly, I think my girlfriend will appreciate this one. I’m sure she’s tired of heading home from a work with a t-shirt pant lad who doesn’t have corporate attire requirements.
I’d like to save for a home deposit
You know what’s an amazingly underrated privilege? Getting a job right out of university. It really is, and thanks to it (other than getting laid off that one time), has afforded a lot of upward financial mobility.
I don’t have enough to smack a deposit, but with my current income and its kind trajectory, I may be able to sign a mortgage about 3-4 years from now that won’t snap my back in half.
There are a number of considerations in terms of location, requirements, the market at the time, etc. along with the fact that it’s not guaranteed that I’ll even be in Sydney these following years. It’s not off the table for me to temporarily relocate elsewhere in the name of ‘international experience’ or ‘career break’ or ‘self-discovery’ — all of which would impede the need for apartment hunting or at least incentivise me in picking a somewhat rent-able location.
Still, I’d like to save towards something that isn’t an emergency fund or an imaginary pool that I only sit on.
For now, it’ll be for a two-bedroom apartment in a nice suburb, decent building and one fatal flaw that I won’t find out about until it’s too late.
Other minor things of change
I will not get the Switch 2 on release, but I will get the newest Super Smash Bros title and the Switch 2 on release and be more active at my hobby club once again as the veteran member who’s halfway to the grave already (ripe age of 25-years-old).
I will continue to meal prep but also be open to doing more difficult recipes because they are, in fact a joy, to make. Also, my girlfriend is complaining that we haven’t made sop buntut (oxtail soup) yet and for the most part, it’s because I’m lazy to do difficult recipes.
I’m gonna start bringing a card holder around again. There’s a certain, old-fashioned flair that comes with a physical card but really, I just found a posh Coach wallet that my uncle got for me while decluttering and I kind awant to use it. In the same vein, I want to start using my sunnies more.
Oh, and journaling. Like traditional journaling. With a pen and paper. This one is more self-explanatory. Even 15 minutes of journaling or reading or fucking anything is better than roasting my retinas. I want to bring that mindful mindlessness back.