- Weekly Wellness -

Fall Quarter

// Week 1: TypeLit.io

What is TypeLit.io?

TypeLit.io is a website that allows you to type classic novels. It calculates and records your typing speed & accuracy.

Why this?

I recently got my first mechanical keyboard and I wanted to practice using it; it is quite a different experience from typing on a laptop. I've always found typing (touch typing, specifically) to be a relaxing activity.

My Experience

Week 1 was pretty hectic and this activity became my escapism. For a brief moment of 10–15 minutes, I was able to distract myself from whatever real-life thing I had to worry about, and just sit back, relax, and type. I typed The Great Gatsby, which is one of my favorite books I read in high school. Since I had already read the book, I didn't need to spend extra energy trying to decipher the story. It felt pretty good to unplug for a moment and just type away at my keyboard whilst enjoying a story.

// Week 2: Spontaneous Photography

I love taking pictures of anything and everything I find interesting. So much so that I have 2700+ photos in the "camera" folder of my phone gallery. Even though I know the purpose of this activity is to capture the spontaneous, fleeting moments, I couldn't help but pay more attention to the things around me, in hopes of seeing something cool that I otherwise would've missed. Through this activity, I felt more in tune with nature and the physical world around me.

Sunlit Leaves

I was walking on Inner Ring Road when I saw this. Something about the way the sunlight hit the tree made me stop for a second and admire its beauty. The scattered lights as well as the contrast between light and dark evoke positive feelings and tranquility. Good vibes all around :)

OMG IT'S A CROWWW

Every time I see or hear a crow I'm always like "THAT'S MY PEOPLE!!" (Crows are my spirit animal.) The rawness of this photo captures my sheer joy seeing this little fella. Sure, I did eventually get a photo that's not blurry, but it's not as good as this.

In the Rose Garden

This was taken during my little trip looking around a little garden next to the Middle Earth towers. I took out my phone because I wanted to take a picture of this China rose. Realized it's in selfie mode, but took a photo anyway. I love how it's angled weirdly. It's definitely not a photo I would've/could've taken intentionally.

late night walk.mp4

// Week 3: Late-night Walks

I took a couple of late-night walks around the Middle Earth Towers! Figured there's nothing better than getting some fresh air in between doing homework. Since I was the only person in that area, hearing the chatter and footsteps of people passing nearby felt... detaching? I felt alone (in a good way) and content in my own little world.

I walked around with the intent of looking for things I hadn't noticed before. I found that the walkway extends all the way around the towers, and that there's another study room hidden in the corner. Saw some cool creatures too! Spiders, green lacewings, and two wild rabbits. It's nice to take things slow and just clear my mind a little.

// Week 4: Sound Bath with Singing Bowls

I found that after a while, the sound of the singing bowl became a bit repetitive and boring, so I picked a version with tapping sounds. The tapping sound made it so that there was just enough going to prevent my mind from wandering off.

The singing bowl had an oddly mesmerizing effect. Listening to the sound, my mind is fully focused on feeling the vibration/sound drifting back and forth between my ears. Big fan of binaural audio.

I listened to this video before bed and felt quite calm afterward. It helped clear my mind a little so that I wasn't worrying about unnecessary worries before falling asleep.

// Week 5: Journaling Practice #1

Theme: Self Awareness

"My two best qualities are patience and determination." Give examples and describe how these have shaped you.

- I have the patience to sit down and work for hours at a time, whether it be making an intricate Metal Earth model (yay) or homework (nay). Though some time I get easily distracted.
- Two of my favorite sayings are "you just gotta power through" and "you'll live." It helps me to get into the mentality that I should just keep going and things will work out eventually.

I need to channel this kind of energy more

"I am most content when I dress the way I want." Give examples and describe your bodily sensations in this moment.

- I've made the effort to curate my wardrobe the past year or so. My outfit of the day sets the mood/tone of the day :} Sometimes during the day I'll catch myself stop and just suddenly feel "wow I really like my outfit today and feel good in this outfit." It's a nice vibe.
- Gender euphoria? Mayhap. Aesthetic euphoria? Oh definitely.
- I don't exactly understand what the second half of the prompt is trying to say lol. As I'm writing this I'm wearing one of my favorite outfits and I must say I do feel pretty good B)
- The joy of looking stunning for no one but yourself. Hell yeah.

"The quality in myself I most want to work on is combating procrastination." Explain why and give examples.

- I've had "stop procrastination" as my New Year's resolution for like 3 years straight now. Has it gotten better? Maybe. I'm very calculated with my procrastination. That is to say, I'm pretty good at getting things done by the deadline while delaying it as much as possible.
- The time I spend procrastinating and doing unproductive things, I would much rather spend doing other things. I could really use the hour I spend doom-scrolling everyday to draw :/
- I've realized that I am utterly unproductive during the day, especially the brief* periods of time between classes. If I have an appointment or event scheduled later in the day, I can't do ANYTHING productive in the time before it.
- *Brief as in 1 to 2 hours.

"In the past year, I have learned to accept myself as who I am and who I've always been." Explain what you have learned, how it has affected you, or how it will change your actions in the future.

This one's very personal and near and dear to my heart so I will not be going into too much details here <3
What I will say is that, in the past year, I've come to terms with some old realizations and also had some new realizations. All the introspections helped me better understand my identity in relation to the world around me and definitely affected my worldview a lot. All for the better, though :}
I'd like to end the week with this lovely quote from John Green:

❝ Language doesn’t exist to oppress us—it exists to promote the clarity of expression. ❞

Part of personal growth comes from acquiring new language to describe yourself. I quite like it.

// Week 6: Singing Bowl Revisited

Contemplative Listening (Prelude)

At the beginning of this Thursday's seminar, we stopped to breathe. We sat in silence for about two minutes or so, and I was fully expecting to enter a state of zen.

The singing bowl made a ringing sound, marking the beginning of the quiet period. Immediately, my mind began to race. I started thinking about all the homework I needed to do and chores I needed to take care of today and tomorrow and the day after. As I stared at the wall blankly, I tried and failed to calm my mind.

"Isn't this supposed to be relaxing? Why and I so anxious?"

So, yeah. Sitting in complete silence scares me. My mind is usually active 24/7. This matches with my experience in Week 4's Weekly Wellness.

Singing Bowl, Revisited

In the spirit of the abovementioned activity, I decided to try some more sound meditations.

Some toughts:

Initial reaction: wanted to relax, but felt like I can't because I have so much more to do.
My mind calmed down a lot once I successfully "forced" myself to focused on the echoes. Eventually I felt calmer. Tranquil, even.
The bowl sounded ominous at some point. I didn't like that.
Oddly enough, the sound reminded me of a church bell ringing. (I've never been inside a church.) An image of church procession popped into my head & the mood was solemn.
After the exersive, I definitely felt less anxious than before. Interestingly enough, also more determined.

booster reentry.mp4

Date: 11/13/24

I spotted B1082's re-entry :} This is the Falcon 9 booster for mission Starlink Group 9-11. No, it wasn't a coincidence, I went out tonight specifically to try and spot the launch lol. It looked way faster in person than in the video and disappeared from my view really quickly. Next time, I gotta find another spot where fewer buildings are blocking my view.

// Week 7: Gratitude Walk

Trip Around the Outskirts

I've walked from the Middle Earth Towers to the Student Health Center a couple of times, but it was always during the day. The path down Brandywine Road is a nice walk—downhill and rarely will you encounter other people. So, I went on a couple of night walks down this path!

➜ What did I hear? In Middle Earth Housing, it was a combo of wind noises (?), rumbling leaves, and basketballs bouncing on the ground. The sound of cars on the road got louder and louder as I approached Pereira Dr and E Peltason Dr.

➜ What did I smell? Nothing in particular, really. It just smelled like... the outside.

➜ What did I Observe? When I got to the area around the Health Center where there's more clearing, the first thing I noticed was that there were actual stars in the sky! There were a lot more stars than I expected; I took a moment to skywatch/stargaze.

➜ How did I feel? It felt good to have the opportunity to just wander around and have a moment for myself. Looking up at the countless stars in the sky, I'm reminded of the expansiveness of the universe. I'm grateful that the Earth exists. I'm thankful for everything that has allowed this moment to happen. (We are made of stardust, after all.) It's kind of crazy that, about a year ago today, I was a senior in high school going on a tour of UCI with no idea where I was gonna end up in college. Here I am, a year later. I feel lucky :D

// Week 8: Feeling into the Elements

One of my gripes when it comes to UCI's campus is that we don't have a botanical garden like UCR :( No, Aldrich Park doesn't count. This is why ever since I heard about the Ecological Preserve, I've wanted to visit. This week, I finally got the chance!

I decided to write this week's reflection on paper. I rarely go outside into nature, so it would kind of suck if I still have to stare at a screen. Overall, I had a really great time there! The only unfortunate part is that some areas are closed due to ongoing habitat restoration, so I didn't get to explore it all. I would love to come back someday :}

Panorama view of the viewpoint where I sat down & wrote the above reflection.

ecological reserve 2.mp4

Listen to the birds :0
Also, this is a gorgeous California sycamore. It smelled amazing.

ecological reserve 1.mp4

The birds flying out of the bushes (?) startled me at first. It's incredible how many of them there are.

20241124_115743.mp4

Excuse the poor camera work. I was focused on the road and didn't want to trip and fall lol.

// My favorite photos from the trip

Bunny :3

// Week 9: Journaling Practice #2

Theme: Gratitude, Positivity

Gratitude Focus: Write for 10 minutes about a person, a place, and an idea for which you are grateful. What characteristics do these places have? What do they afford you? In what ways do they connect with you personally? How do they make your body feel?

Place: My Dorm Room

My dorm room is decked out very nicely and it makes me happy. I love decorating things to personalize my space!! There's a story behind every piece of merch—how I got into the fandom and how I got the trinket itself. Great memories all around <3 I feel fortunate enough that I can 1) afford these doohickeys and 2) have a place to display them. My decors make this room so quintessentially Me and makes me feel very comfortable. Self-expression yippeee!!

Person: Myself

Ok hear me out. By "myself" here I mean the voice (voices?) in my head. I tend to vocalize my internal thoughts in third-person (i.e. I talk to myself out loud) in such way that it's as if I'm having a conversation with someone else. I recognize the voice is me though, and it's usually my voice of reason. I've come to realize that I resort to it a lot when I'm in a stressful situation, and I'm grateful that my brain can just Talk To Itself and act as a guide. This post articulates it better than I can lol.

Idea: Creative Liberty

I LOVE CREATIVE LIBERTIES ARRRGGHHHH!!!!

If you don't like something about a story or a character, you can just Change It and no one can stop you. That's so awesome. Canon? Never heard of it. Fanon's where the fun's at 🗣️📢🔥🔥🔥

Anyways I just think it's cool that people can have many different interpretations of the same piece of media. I love seeing artists draw their own designs of a character.

3 Good Things Practice: Write down three good things that have happened to you in the past day. Next to each good thing, write: 1) Why did this good thing happen? 2) What does this good thing mean to you? 3) How can you have more of this good thing in the future?

I went to a botanical garden and it was awesome.
- I took the initiative and asked my mom if she wanted to go as well, and she did, so she drove us there.
- My mom's always very generous about driving me to places I want to go to as long it's within a reasonable distance. And for that, I'm extremely thankful <3
- Uh, probably learn to drive so that I can drive myself instead of bothering my mom lol.
I got into a new fandom. pspsps I talk about it in Envisioning What-ifs
- My brain chemistry has been altered in a very positive way.
- Now I have a new thing to fixate on. I love consuming Media™️ and fanwork that's derivative of said Media <3 New brain rot (affectionate) we love to see it!! Makes my life more interesting/entertaining.
- Continue to be chronically online, I guess. Otherwise, I would be missing out on many interesting shows/movies/series.
I ate hot pot on Thanksgiving with my family :)
- We ate it at home & it was very cozy.
- Because of Reasons, for me eating hot pot at home has the connotation of a family reunion. These hot pot days are the days when I can just chill and relax. In other words, no homework lol.
- Now that I'm living on campus, go home, of course.

Reflection

Gotta be honest, I didn't expect this activity to actually improve my mood but it did. Some mundane, ordinary things in life are easy to overlook. But, since they make me happy, it's worthwhile to take a moment to appreciate them.

// Week 10: One last Late-night Nature Walk

✦

It was nearly 2 a.m., the Friday before Finals Week.

Me and two friends decided to be silly and go on an adventure across campus.

I think the pictures speak louder than words,

but do allow me to indulge in a poetic stream of consciousness :}

✦

It was rather foggy in the late night.

I can still taste the moisture in the air,

and the cold, breezy smell.

Somehow, my sweater managed to keep me warm.

Perhaps if I were alone, I'd be scared.

But there's something serene about the atmosphere,

and it's oddly inviting.

It's rather liminal, isn't it?

In front of me stood a building I don't recognize,

in an area I was unfamiliar with.

Somehow, I found myself here at this hour.

A part of me feels like I wasn't supposed to see this.

And yet it feels right to be here, in this moment.

The eldritch horrors of Aldrich Park.

How cute.

'Tis the season of fall.

Oh golden leaves, give me life.

A mysterious figure appears in your sight,

silhouette illuminated by a lamp post.

I took some photos of my friends and I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

I've always had a thing for photography.

Typically I would drench these photos in layers of filters,

but not this time.

The grainy texture,

the blurred focus,

the dim lighting,

the rawness of it all,

I want it to stay.

✦

As my friend so eloquently puts it,

❝ Math can't get you these memories. ❞

He's right.

There's no better way to end the quarter than this.

✦

Reflection

Overall, I would say these activities had a net positive impact on me. I had considered stopping after Week 5 or so, but I'm glad I stuck with it for the whole quarter :) I tend to gravitate towards activities that has to do with the outdoors/nature. It's a nice "unplug from reality" that's not as temporary as, say, a guided meditation. For me, being physically in tune with the world—observing nature and whatnot—is a nice escape from the menial tasks of daily life. In the future, I think I'd like to go on more late-night walks. UCI at night hits differently.

Image Credit

Header Image: Short-wavelength NIRCam Orion mosaic in ESASky

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA / Science leads and image processing: M. McCaughrean, S. Pearson

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