the rebirth of #coolstuff

To say 2020 and into the present calendar day of 2021 has been a tough time is cliché and 1000% true. It’s not been an especially great time to see and do #cool_stuff, and yes, this is very much my way of glossing over stuff right now in the intro paragraph.

It’s definitely been hard to transmute the shittier feelings that come up without the simpler and go-to hits of #cool_stuff I had previously in my life, pre-COVID: meeting up friends new and old both socially and casually, going to out to bars and different meetups and seeing live music for occasions as mundane as it being a Tuesday or a long weekend or as big as compound birthday events, rolling with buddies at jiujitsu, hanging out with my neighbors outside my old apartment complex, and anything else you can think of that involved people sharing the same space and air and physical touch.

Now I find myself grappling with issues like:

• personal feelings, and external perceptions of identity, leading into concerns of personal safety
• racial and cultural issues, both personal and at large
• loneliness and isolation, having moved to a new place that I like so far but the whole experience feels super stunted due to not being able to meet coworkers or new friends in person
• sooooo much screen time to deal with, and I even really like doing computer stuff for hours
• less motivation for productive leisure activity, like trying to lift weights on a consistent basis, or write/reflect more often, or stick to a list of things to do that will get me something nice at the end
• more self-worth coming from work hours, instead of the whole, because of restrictions on sooooo many things I used to do
• so more work hours in some kind of attempt to make them easier on the whole, and as a result of this, more enjoyable. But it ain’t always that simple, I guess

…but you know what? These issues don’t have to take up ALL of my mental space. It’ll def take more effort, but I can learn to take the initiative on modified versions of what I used to do for fun, and legit I can also learn to THRIVE in this presently fucked-up situation.

I have so much work to do with dealing with the list above, but first and foremost I gotta change my attitude about it. There’s no value in feeling like a victim of circumstances. No matter how many strikes I think I have against me at any given moment, I HAVE TO REMEMBER that I am a motherfucking champion, I love life and myself, and I am good at life. I love being generous with others, and getting what I want, and helping others see that they can do that too.

Life is a fun ass social event, where I am capable of doing so much good for myself and for others and have a hell of a good time doing it too. It’s time for me to put on my #cool_stuff glasses, and open my eyes again.

It’s time to see and do and make some #cool_stuff again.

Fun and happy feelings, blessed be.

Existe ya pura vida 🤙

— Frank, January 24, 2021