First Blog Of 2020?!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Blogs.

Podcasts.

Two passions of mine that I should have pursued much earlier in life.

But as they say, better late than never.

It's catharsis really.

Everyone needs to find an outlet to express themselves.

It could be anything.

Public Speaking.

Dance.

Acting.

Painting.

You name it.

Everyone needs a creative outlet.

My blog and my podcast are two of those creative outlets.

I don't keep up with them as often as I should.

There are plenty of times when I tell myself "I'm going to write a new blog post today!"

And then I don't.

Shocker.

Unfortunately I'm very good at procrastinating.

If I can put it off, I usually will.

It's a bad habit.

One that I may never fully break.

However, with the current situation going on in this world, I have much more times on my hands these days.

Everything is pretty much closed.

Shelter in place.

Stay at home.

My place of employment has given me extra paid days off.

I'm very fortunate in that regard.

I don't take that for granted.

I know plenty of people that have been laid off from their jobs ever since the outbreak.

I can't even imagine having no income for two months.

I just wish that this virus can be eradicated as soon as possible.

People need to be able to get back to work.

Bills don't stop.

Hunger doesn't cease.

Everything still costs money.

But above all else, people need safety.

Nothing else matters if it's unsafe to "return to normal".

And after this is over, I think "normal" will take on a different meaning, forever.

Here we are in April, four months into 2020, and the Australian Wildfires seem like an ancient memory.

They happened this year too.

But everything has now been overshadowed by the coronavirus, for obvious reasons.

It has given me a lot of time to reflect on things.

Things that I definitely took for granted.

Like being able to get in my car and just go wherever I wanted to go.

I remember getting my license when I was a teenager.

It was a level of freedom that I had never experienced before.

No more "needing a ride" somewhere.

Now I could just take myself.

Whenever I wanted to.

The freedom.

I also understand why new drivers have higher insurance rates.

I still remember my first time on the highway by myself.

It was the wild west.

I didn't DARE get out of the right lane.

I was checking the speedometer every 2 seconds.

Now?

It's second nature.

I've been driving for half of my life now.

When you do something long enough, it becomes second nature.

That's why people practice.

That's how you develop muscle memory.

But now the only places I drive to are either my job, the grocery store, or the gas station.

That's it.

No movie theater.

No mall.

No arcade.

No bowling.

No gym.

Np pick up basketball.

No sit down restaurants.

Nothing.

Luckily, I have plenty of things at home.

Like this computer that I'm currently typing this blog with.

Having to stay at home has given me the chance to realize that although going out is nice from time to time, I'm definitely a homebody.

Don't get me wrong, I like going to all of those places that I listed, and a good hangout with a group of friends for a game night is ALWAYS a great time, but still.

I'm can be just as content at home.

Going down the YouTube rabbit hole.

Or binge watching episodes of "How It's Made".

Or trying to improve the quality of my streams on Twitch.

I finally dusted off my XLR microphone that I've had for years now.

Now my Twitch streams should sound better to whoever is watching.

I even bought a water filter that attaches to my kitchen sink faucet.

That's some big boy stuff.

I also bought a carpet sweeper from Ocean State Job Lot.

I didn't even know what a carpet sweeper was until like 6 months ago.

It's perfect for my low pile carpet.

And it's cheaper than a vacuum.

Listen to me right now.

Talking about water filters and carpet sweepers?

This is what staying home can do to you.

You start looking for little projects to do around your dwelling place.

I'm sure home gardeners are having a field day right now.

But it also helps take your mind off the fact that you can't go anywhere.

Anything to help people try to stay positive in these trying times.

Just being able to sit here and type whatever comes to mind is cathartic for me.

Now I know why authors love writing books.

You get to paint the picture on a blank canvas, but with words.

One day I want to write a book of my own, but with my love of "run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points", I'm not sure if I could follow the "guidelines".

But I'll tell you this, I have PLENTY of ideas floating around in this brain of mine.

I don't even know where they come from.

But I'm glad that they decided to swing by and stick around.

Speaking of stick around, I'd like to say thank you to anyone who stuck around long enough to read this post!

Hopefully you were able to set aside any stress that you had going on while you were reading this, if even for only a few minutes!

I promise to make these blog posts much more often from this point forward!

Until next time, stay safe out there!