August 2024 in Review

August, you were hot. Persistent heat waves and tropical nights made this month one of the hottest ever, both in memory and on record. I don’t do well in the heat and humidity, so I will forgive myself my lingering inertia this month.

I was hoping to write that the Pile is gone from my living room. Alas, in content it is pretty much the same as it was a month ago. The bag of clothes to donate is still there, along with crafts supplies and sundry miscellany I don’t know what to do with. I have so many things that are clean and usable, so I feel bad throwing them away, but also their resale value is questionable when I go to put them in the donation bag. I’ve read and reread the guidelines for donation to the Beautiful Store, and these items fall between the cracks of the acceptable categories. So for now they sit on my ‘to get rid of’ shelf’ which has replaced the Pile. When the weather cools, I will rev up my activity on the community marketplace app to give things away in my neighborhood.

Although Project Declutter is taking longer than I had hoped, I’m learning to appreciate the process. Really spending time looking at, touching, thinking about and oftentimes appreciating my possessions has been an enlightening journey. For a lot of things, it takes me a couple passes before I finally let them go. Sometimes I rescue items from the ‘to go’ pile to serve a renewed purpose around the house. Rather than rush through this process to ‘achieve’ a tidy home, I’m trying to appreciate this liminal period too. I also feel like I’ll never be ‘done’ with decluttering, never arrive at the perfect volume of stuff. Instead, I am cultivating acceptance and gratitude for the things I have, and trying to clear space so I don’t have to see everything all the time either.

Gym attendance was a little more sporadic this month after I missed a week at the end of July. I got back into the routine this week though, and was rewarded yesterday with ice cream and corn from my fellow gym patron. So far, from the elderly ladies at the gym, I’ve received: two ice cream bars, one yakult drink, one sweet cracker package, and one ear of corn. I’m pretty sure other gyms don’t have this culture of bringing treats for everyone. Thankful for my community gym.

My friend Uri_Hanna visited Seoul this month and we had a nice meetup with kong guksu (soy bean noodles) for lunch, viewing the Seoul Museum and getting bingsoo (shaved ice dessert). This was my first and probably last bingsoo of the year, and it was a special sweet corn version. Cafe Room Tove had been on my radar for a while, so I’m glad we got to try their signature lemon jello dessert, tea, and the bingsoo. Credit to Uri for the photos!

The creative funk continued through August, but I did manage to make two things, both of which, incidentally, were hot pink. (Not incidentally, hot pink is one of my favorite colors.) I’ve had this piece of paper painted with hot pink ink for forever, so finally I sat down and decided to do something with it. I picked up my magic pencil and drew what was literally right in front of me, my washi tape holder from Recorder Factory. After Uri’s visit, I also felt inspired to collage the pink fish keychain she gifted me from her trip to Da Nang, Vietnam. It was nice to create again, even as sweat gathered on my brow and dripped down my arms as I snipped and pasted.

I was curious about Augusts past so had a quick search:

In August 2019 I see that I wrote I got a new phone. I am, in fact, still using that very same phone. Happy five years and three days to you, my Galaxy Note 10+. You’re officially my longest-used phone, and am grateful you’re holding up so far. It was also nostalgic to see I filmed my first vlog five years ago too.

Five years ago I also made this stop motion. Still proud of it 🙂

In August 2020 I hit 400 and 500 subscribers on my YouTube channel. I didn’t note it in the post, but I also watched BTS’s Dynamite music video on August 21, the day it premiered. A seemingly inconsequential event that would significantly impact my life. ifykyk 🙂

And that’s about it for me this month. How was your August, friends? Wishing you health and perfectly moderate temperatures wherever you are!

This post is also part of The Changing Seasons challenge. Check out Ju-Lyn’s post over at Touring my Backyard to see more monthly reviews.