Things I find Therapeutic

Since starting my new life here in Madison I've begun to learn a lot about myself. I'm living alone for the first time in my life, living off campus, living in a new city, making new friends, attending a new university, attending graduate school rather than undergrad, etc. Basically, my life here is nothing like my life before here. The mix of exploration, spending much time alone, and being overloaded much of the time I've started to find things... well, therapeutic "things." Here are some I've found:

1. Eating supper in my apartment with no tv, only music playing and doing no deep thinking... just relaxing.

2. Typing. Unstructured typing to be specific. I like just typing... whatever I want. I hate handwriting so typing is my way of journaling.

3. Doing homework on my laptop from the comfort of my bed. I used to never be able to read or anything while sitting on my bed because I would always end up asleep. No longer. I now find it nice, soothing, calming, insert your own adjective.

4. Listening to NPR.

5. Cooking my own meals. I don't do it as often as I should, but I'm trying to change that. When I do cook for myself I find I enjoy my dinner much more.

6. Cleaning. I have a new job cleaning at a student center down town and I find washing all the dishes, vacuuming, and all the other cleaning to be a nice bit of a break from my other work.

7. Watching a bit of pointless tv every now and then. I've never been a big tv watcher, but I'm starting to enjoy watching HGTV and random sitcoms in the late afternoon before I start homework.

8. CNN morning news. I love starting my day that way. Somehow it seems to put things into a different perspective for me, and I feel much less self-centered (easy to be when you live alone and only for yourself) when I start my day with some sort of connection to the outside world.

9. Riding the bus home in the evening.

10. Electric blankets. I fall asleep so much faster these days (I'm always cold and can't fall asleep until I warm up...especially my toes) and wake up nice and warm.