Hello February. Frequent readers know we are heading into my second favorite month today. So many happy things take place in February starting with an annual anniversary trip. But before I share all about my plans let’s first have a look back what great things curious January had in store.
I satisfied my curious mind by
- sourcing the following books to read about ethnicities this year:
1. Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu – a matriarchy at the edges of Himalaya
I didn’t come any further. I think I want to read one book on Aborigines and maybe one about Kurds. Suggestions welcome. - spending some time in my AI community, participated in 2 challenges and listened to two webinars.
- reading four new to me authors.
I satisfied my curious life by
- having a planning session with husband. We have so many great things in the calendar now.
- booking my return flight from the Arctic.
- attending a NBA game here in Berlin – this was so cool. Do you want a recap?
- booking our anniversary get-away at the cabin by the sea. It’s go time tomorrow. Yeah.
- booking our spot at the golf licensing course.
- catching some northern lights. Very subtle to the naked eye but I saw some colors.
I satisfied my curious connections by
- starting my volunteer role as church council member – lots of time and meetings already.
- hosting brunch for my parents.
- quickly dropping in at my parents big party even though we had other plans (Pearl Wedding Anniversary but the husband didn’t feel well).
- having a FaceTime call with my best friend.
- planning a weekend with my dad in the workshop – dates are in the calendar. October it is.
- meeting with my online bookclub. I think we were all a bit tired.
- celebrating my dads birthday with a nice dinner.
- spending a whole afternoon with my sister just meandering through Berlin and hopping into every shop after a wonderful brunch.
- commenting on 93 blog posts.
I tickeled my curious soul by
- enjoying the winter air and hopefully a bit more snow – mostly walks daily. Often with the husband. Admiring icicles.
- starting my routine of one-line-journaling again. Such a gem.
- lighting candles almost daily.
- trying out affirmations. Interesting. Need to explore further.
- mindfully taking time to breath 5 times.
I curiously continued my health journey by
- doing yoga everyday in January. I celebrate by getting myself yoga blocks. Finally.
- doing everything to get rid of my cold and then be patient to not overdo it with exercise.
- starting the behavioral sleep therapy
- also starting a glucose monitoring for my migraines.
I was most curious about
- curiosity – but I haven’t really dove as deep into it as I had hoped. One podcast episode though and a few pages in a book.
I did one new thing
- ice box treatment. 3 minutes in -110°C (-166°F) – this was amazing. I could see myself doing this every months. Expensive though.
I managed to check off a few not so curious things
- spending two hours scheduling routine tasks in my to-do app.
Such a game changer for more focus. - putting away the Christmas decorations
before January 6th.by January 10th. - getting back to cleaner eating and less sugary treats. There were days without candy, cake and chocolate.
- calling the landlord asking for lower rent since apartments left and right are being rented for less. No luck, valid arguments (maybe) and lots of information about the development of our block.
We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
Walt Disney
Winter in Berlin. The river Havel is completely frozen. Unfortunately it is not safe to go iceskating.
I will tickle my curious mind by
…sticking to my AI community routine.
…reading one non fiction book.
…watching the olympics and learning things about sports and people and nations.
I will tickle my curious life by
…enjoying our anniversary trip.
…exploring the surroundings of our little cabin a bit further than usually.
…getting to know the people on my Arctic expedition in a zoom call.
…going through my preparations and checking if I am all set for the Arctic.
…purchasing the last items (hotel room for arrival date, fleece gloves, snow boots?, backpack?)
I will tickle curious connections by
…meeting up with my best friend and having a belated birthday celebration.
…having a valentines double date with our friends.
…meeting my co-working friend in Hamburg for dinner.
…meeting a former colleague for lunch
…meeting a freelance colleague and my AI coach for an after work drink.
…writing some snail mail while sitting by the fire in our cabin.
…joining the CBBC. Thanks Engie for hosing once again.
I will curiously continue my health journey by
…doing 10 min core training every day and if possible continue my yoga routine.
…meeting up with my neurologist.
…stopping at the piercing studio to change the piercings to the final jewelry.
…adamantly sticking to my vitamin intake.
…not Throwing all my no-cake-candy-chocolate habit over board during vacation.
…voluntarily quarantining in order to stay healthy for my trip.
I will tickle my curious soul by
…spending time doing a puzzle.
…staring into the fire.
…listening to the waves crash to shore.
…enjoying snow and cold weather.
I am going to be curious about aka The Curiosity Club
…reading up on the Arctic and getting my mind ready. I have a whole Pinterest board, a podcast list and a multitude of books. I am running out of time.
I will commit to the following not so curious things
…earning some money aka working my a** off.
…supporting the husband as much as I can in his ongoing struggle to save the company.
…sitting down and doing a financial status quo – something planned for November pushed to December, January but still hasn’t happened. It’s urgent.
How did your year start? Any curious things happened in your life? What are you currently curious about? Any curiosities you want to explore in February?
12 comments
Tobia, I love how you were curious during January! I’m curious to know more about your AI community, such as what kind of challenges you did. And yes, I’d love to hear about the NBA game! We tried to go to one in Minneapolis many years ago. We made our plans, had plane tickets, a hotel, etc. And then they went on strike! No games. We couldn’t change our plans, so we went anyway and had a nice time without the game.
Oh no for missing the game. But you still had fun. That’s good.
I’ll try to sit down and write something but I fear it’s not happening before the arctic really.
The AI community is some sort of business club where we have calls and discussions and some little games to play. On Friday it’s a topic and we are supposed to create images. Maybe I share some have done at some point.
Also, happy anniversary! I hope you and your husband have a wonderful getaway!
It’s a wonderful getaway so far.
Happy Anniversary! I hope you have a wonderful trip, lots of relaxing and good time together.
I hate the sound of the urgent financial stuff. Unpleasant, but if you can come up with a plan that will feel better.
Congrats on your daily yoga in January! I started daily yoga 2 years ago, just intending to do every day in January, but I noticed my neck and back felt so much better, I stuck with it. I didn’t miss a day for about 18 months, I’ve decided to be less rigid now and have missed a few days. I missed a few days in a row over the summer when we were staying in a hotel, and I’ll tell you my back was not happy about that.
I fell of the wagon sometime during the summer and then I was sick all the time so I didn’t continuously practice. I found some nice hotel room yoga classes and they did wonders after a day at the trade fairs. It’s amazing that you were able to stick with it for 18 months. That is a huge accomplishment.
Yes financial stuff is a bit worrisome these days but my morning affirmation said: you are Maloney magnet. I told the husband and his reply was: that’s good because I am a money bag. Ha. At least we are making jokes.
Having all the yoga gear really makes a difference for me. My set-up is blocks, a strap, blanket, and a bolster, in addition to my mat. It makes me feel like a high maintenance yogi, but it really has made a huge difference. I highly recommend it!
Oh wow you are your own yoga studio. For now I’ll be happy with blocks. I do have enough blankets. And I use pillows if I need a bolster. I wouldn’t know where to store it all.
I love this! I am always up for learning, finding new things, and finding out more about things I already knew about! I can’t believe you saw the northern lights; how exciting! That is one thing that I have had on my list since I was a child and still have not gotten to!
I also just spent some time organizing my daily tasks. What app/method do you use? I like Google tasks but sometimes I just ignore them and then they pile up so my goal is to check them off each day even if they are not fully complete (like if I say 30 mins and I do 10, I am going to give myself a pass at first). It sounds like you are nearly ready for your Arctic trip! When do you leave?
The app I am using is called ticktick. I can skip routine tasks to the next occurrence like I do this week because I’m on vacation. There is also a habit tracker, an Eisenhower matrix a Kansan and a calendar view. It’s working well for me. If I find time I was going to write about but I said that about the gdansk trip last February and the Wroclaw trip too. Sigh.
Learning new things is great. I wish I had put more focus on it last month.
Happy anniversary, Tobia and E! :) I hope you have a great getaway!
That is so cool you were able to see the Northern lights. I heard about it but we didn’t see anything. I’d love to hear about the NBA game. I was able to go to a Pre-season with my Dad, when they were here in February (the area is in Downtown Sacramento) and it was so much fun. Who did you see? I really love that you did yoga every day in January! I hope it made you feel great!
That would be the next best thing seeing a game in the states. But then it has to be the lakers. Best against Sacramento. Ha!
We ended up seeing Orlando magic vs. Memphis grizzlies.
Thank you. We are enjoying our anniversary trip and am rather lazy.