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gemlog/2022-07-23-what-ive-done-while-away.gmi

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+# What I've Done While Away
+I've been away from the small internet from a while. Based off my last gemlog date, it's been around a year, to a year and a half. I've spent the last few days getting re-acquainted with the small net again. Even though I was gone, I thought about it often. At first, it feels a bit weird to basically say "I missed the internet", but the small net is a community. 
+
+I've been itching to write something, so I posted a small draft of what I've done while away to rawtext.club and thought I'd expand it for a gemlog post. So, here it goes:
+
+## Why I Left
+You have to understand something about my personality. I bounce between hobbies. I get very, very interested in something, do a deep dive, get too far in, and may hang around that hobby for 2 weeks - 2 months. Some things stick, like photography. Other things just kind of fade away with time as I lose interest. Or, recently, I try to get into a hobby but get the flu for a week and say "eh forget it" -- but more on that later. 
+
+So, all that to say, I kind of faded away from participation on the small net. Life got busy, things changed. 
+
+## So, can you explain this gap in your small net resume?
+Yeah, sure. 
+
+Here is the tl;dr:
+	- I got a new job. I'm now an iOS developer. 
+	- I moved to a bigger city
+	- I started following sports 
+	- I got a new laptop
+	- I tried digital minimalism for a while (and would like to do it again)
+	- I got the flu for a week
+	- and, I came back to the small net
+
+### New Job in the Big City
+Not much to say here. I got a better job with better pay in a bigger city and doing less. The people are nice and great to work with. And the work life balance is S tier. 
+
+### Sports
+I grew up playing sports. Baseball, from tee-ball through sophomore year of highschool. And I pretty much hated it, but I didn't want to disappoint my dad. I mean, it was ok. But, really I dreaded practices and games were too long and I was probably less than average in performance. Also played some basketball and football, but those are less important here.
+
+One day, I told my wife "we should follow a sport; let's do baseball since I know it". We picked a team (Milwaukee Brewers) and my wife got _hooked_. I also took a strong interest. We pretty much put the game on every night we can. 
+
+This is significant for me because I can re-explore this sport out of interest and not obligation. I'm learning the parts I actually enjoy and am able to relate to it. I'm seeing baseball in a new light and its been great for spending time with my wife. We go to minor league baseball games, and have even travelled to see the Brewers play. 
+
+For any readers, you may think sports are stupid and boring. That is how a lot in the tech world feel, at least from the people I know. I recommend giving one sport a shot, and preferably a team either in your area where you can attend games OR, one that you can watch on TV and follow. It is more fun than you probably think!
+
+Maybe, for my next post, I will write about how baseball is an excellent sport for those who adhere to the _Slow Movement_ kind of lifestyle. Because it _is_ a slow game.
+
+### Slow Movement? Is that related to digital minimalism you mentioned in the tl;dr?
+Yes, and yes this is a really cheesy way to transition topics. While on my hiatus from the small net I read a few books about digital minimalism. One being, Digital Minimalism. Another, one about taking a "tech shabbat" or "tech sabbath". That inspired me to take time away from my phone, which I did. I lowered my phone screen time to an average of probably less than an hour a day. I replaced that time with reading and hiking and hammocking and some journaling and even playing video games with family from another state. 
+
+From this, I learned that its nice to not be distracted by a screen. You have more hours in your day and you are more attentive in your conversations with others. Unfortunately, I've gone back to being addicted to my phone. I'd like to re-claim this part of my life though. Maybe I'll do a write up on that for another post. 
+
+
+### If it was so great, why did you go back?
+So remember that one time I mentioned something about a hobby and getting the flu? Well, here it is. One day I decided I wanted to draw. I'm usually pretty good at hobbies I pick up. But, one thing I am not good at -- is drawing. I decided I'd take on the challenge and try to get better. I went to draw-a-box website, got the micron pens and printer paper, and started getting to work on learning how to draw. 
+
+I put in a few days on the draw-a-box exercises and then I got a tickle in my throat, which led to a fever. I got the flu. To be honest, it was fairly mild but instead of being knocked out, I had trouble sleeping. Fevers keep me awake for some reason. All that down time being home for a week led to lots of reddit usage to cope with feeling miserable, and I also had no apetitie. All those bad feelings led to having some anxiety on top of it as well. Probalby the lack of sleep. 
+
+My phone (and reddit) was there for me. Aaaaand now I'm addicted again. That week undid a lot of work and progress that I had done prior to it. I stopped reading. My screen time bounced back to 4-5 hrs per day on average. I started snacking a lot instead of eating healthy. Went on less hikes. 
+
+Now, I'm finally building back up to where I was before. I started reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I've gone on hikes, I'm trying to run (its high 90s - low 100s where I am; so hard), and I want to get off my phone again. But I also have gained an interest in the small net again. Luckily, rawtext.club aligns with my goals of slow living and digital minimalism. 
+
+So, here I am. Back again for an indefinite amount of time.

gemlog/index.gmi

@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@
 by switmandolin
 
 
+## 2022
+
+=> gemini://rawtext.club/~swiftmandolin/gemlog/2022-07-23-what-ive-done-while-away.gmi 2022-07-23 — What I've Done While Away
+
+
 ## 2021
 
 => gemini://rawtext.club/~swiftmandolin/gemlog/2021-01-16-bible-reading-system.gmi 2021-01-16 — How I Read the Bible Daily