July 2024 in Review

July felt like a turning point month in many respects. The first of the month also marked the start of my gym membership, of changma, or the monsoon season, and decluttering in earnest.

Gym and diet

I’m proud of my attendance at the gym this month. I went almost every weekday, and only missed this week because I got sick over the weekend. Stayed home so I don’t expose my fellow gym patrons, who are nearly all senior citizens, to my germs. Hoping to be well enough by the time this post goes live so I can start the next month anew.

Starting to work out also meant trying to eat healthier, and in July I also definitely made more of an effort to make simple meals at home. I really liked the routine of going to the gym first thing, then coming home to shower and make myself a healthy lunch. Stuffing yubu-chobap (fried tofu pockets or wraps) with chicken breast instead of rice was a delicious new meal for me. One of my favorite brunch-time meals is slightly frying up cherry tomatoes in olive oil and smushing them onto a slice of sourdough toast, similar to pan con tomate.

Not pictured are all the sweets and junk foods I also consumed. I didn’t do as good a job about cutting out the bad, but I did start tracking my meals: recording everything, weighing portions, and looking up nutritional information to get a sense of my macros.

Decluttering

Although the pile still leers at me from my living room, it has evolved in form and content. A folding chair, a foot soak bath, stacks of books and bunches of stationery have left the pile, along with some BTS merch from the studio and two Starbucks city mugs. A big suitcase from the veranda and all the big bags inside said suitcase have joined the pile. And the bag of clothes that need to be donated continue to form the pile at its core.

You can’t really tell that I’ve decluttered much yet, but a lot has been removed from the recesses of cupboards and drawers, pulled out from the backs of shelves or under desks. I’m looking forward to actually seeing the difference in August when the pile is gone. There, I’ve gone and published it so it so it shall be so.

Big areas still to tackle are my closet, my stationery and crafts supplies, and the bulk of my BTS merch.

Creativity

This month I finally filmed and published a tour of my crafting desk and station. I wanted a record of this space before the great purge. A purge which is turning out to be more of a slow, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes inspired, sometimes impulsive, trickle.

The focus on destashing combined with the rainy season (it’s hot, humid, and no AC in my studio) means creative hobbies took a backseat. To be honest, I’ve been in a longish creative funk even before the summer. I’m not sure if being forced to face all my stuff has put me off wanting to “create” more stuff, or if I’m mentally distancing myself so I can feel comfortable getting rid of supplies. Or maybe my interests have just changed?

I did send out a RAOC offer of some umbrella postcards and other happy mail to penpals. My postage stamp stash is significantly reduced, which is good, but also problematic because my postcard stash is not.

Finally, I’m happy to be joining The Changing Seasons challenge again. Take a look to see how the month was for other bloggers around the world.

How was your July? Hoping you are staying healthy and happy, friends.