LOL: Life Of Leo

Image Source My last Action Replay was in July 2021, that is almost a year ago! It aches me that I haven't been regular here, but I'm slowly making a start now and that is something I want to stay consistent at. 2020, 2021 and the first five months of 2022 were a blur! It is a weird feeling, time is moving so fast and yet everything around feels slow. I don't know if I'm making sense, but that is how 2022 has been for me so far. The pandemic still looms, but our life has pretty much gone back to the old normal. We used to feel restricted and claustrophobic earlier but now we are free to do whatever we want. That's a tiny win! I have been through a lot from the start of the year, both good and bad and as usual it has left me with lessons that would last a lifetime. Work has been good and while we are asked to step into office once in a while, I'm still primarily working from home. My workplace is just 10 minutes away from where I stay and I don't feel like go...

Image Source I'm alive! Yes, there is no other way I would want to start this post. No, I haven't been sick or infected, I just have been busy and stressed thanks to the uncertainty around. None of us in Bangalore expected the second wave to hit us this bad and while the Government has continued to let us down, we have been trying our best to stay afloat. This time, Covid hit close home and we lost some close friends and relatives. We also had a bunch of people who were infected and thankfully recovered. The second wave hasn't been easy for any of us I'm sure and this is the main reason I did not want to put up a post here as it would have been a rant. I was angry, upset, sad and what not looking at the situation around me. Survivor's guilt is a real thing and at times I genuinely have felt ashamed about my privilege. Anyway, long story short, we survived and now we have been fully vaccinated as well. Hopefully, the third wave won't hit us so hard. Even if it do...

Image Source I know I wanted to write more often in February, but life has its way of getting in between. Is it just me or did the shortest month of the year seem more shorter this year? Time is flying and we're just flying with it, it seems like. I had a bunch of posts planned for February, but February kept me on my toes. Why? I'll let you know in a while. Work continued to keep me busy with the first release of the year. It is almost a year since I have been working from home now and while I have totally gotten used to it, I still miss office life and meeting my friends. There was something so comforting in it, I think that's the magic of a routine, no matter how monotonous it feels, it still is comforting. I'm very happy with the way I have learnt to manage my time during the pandemic. I am a pretty structured person and the start of the pandemic took me for a ride, but with time I learnt to swim against the tide and came out victorious. Like someone wise once said,...

Image Source We're done with January too? Wow, where are the days going? I still remember the first day of the year and now we're already on the second day of the second month of the year. But, you know what, January has been a wonderful month and no matter how fast it whooshed by, it made a huge impact. January helped me get a reality check and sort out and align my priorities better. As a person with multiple passions and interests, I usually have more than what I can handle in my kitty. I try to do too many things and while I usually succeed in getting them done, it does take a toll on me. It also adds to the guilt incase something gets missed out. Now, I'm more realistic about what I should do and how much I can handle. This has simplified my life to a large extent.

Image Source It feels good to be back here, it has been a while, I know. I wouldn't say that this was an intentional break from blogging, just that other things kept me busy and I decided to focus on that. Before I knew it, the year was done! 2020 has been called a lot of names by many people, but if I were to be honest, I'd say that 2020 was not the worst year of my life. In fact it was a pretty good year for me. I know that it was a tough time for the world and we lost many people, but if there is one thing that 2020 taught me, it is to make peace with the situation at hand. Thanks to this, I come out of 2020 a much better and a much calmer person. When I look back at what I was ten or twelve years ago, and then look at who I am today, I surprise myself. My partner (I'll no longer be using the word husband) recently told me that I have mellowed down so much and he doesn't see that angry tyrant in me anymore. We've been together for a decade, so he would know. I co...

Image Source I didn't write a single post in October, so you can imagine how busy I have been. Also, didn't August, September and October just swoosh by? I mean March alone felt like 3 whole months, so when months just pass by so quickly it does take some getting used to. September and October was dominated by office work and everything else had to take a step-back. I was working on something that I had never worked on before, in fact no one on my team had worked on it before. It was all about trial and error, days of going through documents, reaching out to people who might have an idea about it and trying not to lose your self-confidence in the process. That's the thing about a new piece of work, right? It is never easy but it is always worth the effort. I'm done with it now and I'm pretty happy with the way it has shaped up. Never giving up and asking for help instead of struggling for days was the key. As Dumbledore says, "Help will always be given to those...

Image Source And the birthday month comes to an end! August moved comparatively slower than other months and it was good because it gave me a chance to slow down as well. The last few months were about rushing with the times, but August helped me calm down and relax a bit. Yes, I'm someone who constantly likes to be busy, but I found my calm in my own way. Since I had a work release in August, most of the month kept me busy with work and I'm not complaining at all. My time management skills have improved and I have found my own rhythm in my way of things. I was able to balance my work, household chores, reading, writing, working out and other small things pretty well. August has been a very content month in terms of getting things done.

Image Source Back in March, when this whole self-isolation charade started, I never thought we'd still be here in August. It was pretty obvious, but the mind refused to believe. August is my birthday month and it is usually a month that keeps me happy and exuberant. July has been comforting too and it helped me strike a balance between the old and the new normal. July has been a highly productive month and it kept me busy, just the way I like it. I have crazy deadlines at work and it kept me busy for most of the day. Thanks to a planned routine I was able to manage my time quite effectively and this helped me have a clear and calm mind.

Image Source So, we're officially in the second half of the year? At this point, I just want 2020 to run with the speed of Usain Bolt and hopefully 2021 will be kinder to us. June has been a month of lows and highs. The first few days of the month was disastrous, but it seemed to pick itself up after a few days. The situation outside is not looking any better, but I guess we have no choice but to stay safe, sit back and watch. I do have my bouts of paranoia and anxiety but they are a lot within check. See, it is hard to not let yourself be affected by what is happening outside. The uncertainty and the prolonged duration of the mess only makes it worse. I just hope that things get better soon for all of us.

Image Source Another month ends and the situation doesn't seem to be in any control. Waking up to alarming numbers day after day is becoming the norm and all one can do is hope that the next day would be better. I never thought that our generation would have to see a pandemic like this. New found respect for people who have survived pandemics and epidemics earlier. I guess every bad situation does come with its share of lessons in one way or another. Apart from the virus updates, the news coming in from other countries or even within our own country isn't great. Racism, animals being mercilessly killed, the callous attitude of political leaders, cyclones and what not. Was all this always around and 2020 is bringing it to the foreground? One can never say. All we can do now is hope that the situation gets better and we find the strength in us to survive and come out of all this as slightly better people. May was a dull month. Looks like the monsoons have hit Bangalore ea...

Image Source Are we all used to the new normal yet? I'm slowly getting there and have made my peace with it now. There are some things that you cannot control in life. You just need to let it take its course and pass. Sub-consciously we carry a mask everywhere we go now. We sanitize frequently when we're out of home and wash up thoroughly when we get back. We hardly go out though. We only leave the house to buy essentials and meet my in-laws who live close by. Apart from that, we stay put. Both of us are now used to being at home while we were never homebodies earlier. But, it is important to understand the situation, accept it and adhere to it. Even after being together for close to a decade now, we have a lot to talk! These conversations keep us going, lock down or not.

Image Source For the past two months I've been talking about time passing by really quickly and I now apologize for that. March hit me like a solid slap and it felt longer than three years. The current situation in the world is scary and the worst thing about it is the uncertainty. As someone who lives a planned, systematic life, this troubles me to no end. At times, I just want it to end. Be it in a good way or a bad way. But end, it must. My anxiety has been at its peak as you can deduce from my words I'm sure. I've been working from home from 13th March and by now I have somehow made my peace with it. The eight hours that I focus on office work keeps me sane and sorted. The rest of the day however goes in a blur. I've been maintaining a home without a maid for years now with help from my partner. It is not new to me.

Image Source The shortest month did live up to its name, in-spite of it being a leap year. Seriously, how fast is time going? February was a pretty relaxed month and it was uneventful for me. Things just went on as usual. Work was lean and it game me quite some time for myself. Also, I'm not someone who does not like to be busy. Not having much to do at the workplace added to my lethargy and it was not going down well on me. I have really good friends at the workplace and they keep me going, but not being that productive takes a toll on me. I've come to realize that it is a double edged sword for me. To keep myself engaged at the workplace, I decided to give Audible a shot. It worked like a charm. I was never the one who would go for an audio book. It took me quite some time to get used to a Kindle in the first place, so audio books were too far-fetched. But when I gave it a shot, I was hooked.

Image Source I thought 2019 would be the fastest year of my life but now that we are already into February, I know that 2020 will be giving 2019 a serious run for its money. January was a mixed month with its share of highs and lows. I continued to be busy with work till the 3rd week of the month and it kept me on my toes, the deadline that came with it, that is. I completed the work a week ahead and it did give me a nice boost to my confidence. The next set of work started soon enough and it was business as usual. Apart from the actual new year, that is January 1st, it did not feel like a new year at all. Everything seemed to go on as usual almost sneering at the saying ' time and tide waits for none '. It was an interesting month for sure and by the end of it, I'm feeling content and that is all that matters.

Image Source 2019 has been the fastest year of my life, so far. It hasn't been a easy year, but it has been a good one for sure. 2019 was clearly split into two for me. Till June, my life was consumed with work. Day and night, it was work all the way. I was working on a complex project that needed all my time and effort since June 2018. Yes, it took me a year but I was finally done with it and I couldn't be more happier. It was successful and I received more than enough appreciations for it. In May, we moved into a place of our own. Once I was done with the critical project, I turned my attention towards our home. We did not want to rush into setting everything up at the same time, so we took our time we it. Every piece of furniture, every decor item, every tiny thing that was added to the house was chosen carefully and for a reason and purpose. It still is an on-going process, but, today we have a place that is a reflection of us in true sense.

Image Source November has been a really peaceful month and I couldn't be more happier. I've had a insanely busy year so far and finally in November I was able to put my feet up and rest for a while. By November first week, I was done with all my official work and it gave me some good free time to focus on my interests and passions. Weirdly, as thrilled as I was to get some time off, I started missing work after a day. I'm someone who is used to being busy all the time. Suddenly, all the free time was making me claustrophobic and I just wanted to get out and do something. I suck at taking breaks from work for his very reason. I have spoken about it before here as well. Still, I managed to hold on to my sanity and kept myself busy by doing things that mattered to me.

Image Source So we're officially in the last two months of the year now? Wow! How soon did 2019 pass by? I still remember the first day of the year and now I soon need to start planning another new year's party! The past few months have kept me insanely busy and I just don't recall how the time passed. October was all about work and trying to stay afloat amidst it. The first fifteen days of October were swamped and I barely had time for anything else apart from work. I even wrote my first post of October pretty late into the month. I'm surprised I managed to write and publish four posts. I have quite a number of unfinished posts which I hope to complete this month.

Image Source August was my birthday month and I was thrilled to see what it had in store for me. Unfortunately, August was a month of unrest and turned everything upside down for me. No, it wasn't a bad month as such, but something about it just did not feel right. I had severe issues with my sleep cycle this month, and that's what caused a lot of problems in the days to follow. I have always been a light sleeper and I battle insomnia at regular intervals, but this time it was severe. I barely slept at night and this due to this I couldn't wake up early in the mornings. This caused me to miss my fitness classes for almost a month, not carry home cooked meals to office, irregular timings of eating, exhaustion and more exhaustion. This obviously did not go down well for my state of mind. As someone who has an innate need to have everything under her control, this took a heavy toll on me.

Image Source Yay, July is over! Okay, I probably am more excited about entering my birthday month than bidding goodbye to July. As much as I'm looking forward to August and the beginning of a new year of my life, I cannot ignore the wonder that July was. July calmed me down to a large extent. It was all about retrospect, sorting of priorities, reflection on the physical and mental health and keeping the momentum going. My battle with anxiety continues, but I have been able to bring it under control to a large extent. Ever since I took a step back from work sometime last September and put myself first, things have improved immensely. Thankfully, work hasn't been too stressful and I found quite a lot of time to relax, breathe and take care of myself.

Image Source We are done with half of 2019, really? Here, I haven't even started half the things that I wanted to do in 2019 and the year is just swooshing by! Having said that, 2019 has been fast paced yes, but it also has been wonderful. Speaking of wonderful, let's talk about June. To sum up what June was to me, I'd use the word 'sorted'. June raised my anxiety levels to the peak and yet by the end of the month it helped me calm down. June kept us insanely busy, but by the end of the month we could relax happily. June tested our physical and emotional strength and in the end we came out with flying colors. Now you know why I used 'sorted', don't you?