Kill the Boredom
For some reason, February often feels like the longest month of the year. Those four weeks in the dead of winter ought to be some of my favorite considering how much I love the weather. But the lingering fog that neither burns off nor turns to rain starts to feel a lot like my state of mind: stagnant. When I find myself bored of the same old routine, the days all blurring to one, the mood of mundane starts to put me on edge and I need to find ways to kill the boredom. So I came up with a few new ways to shake up these winter doldrums.
Get Out
At one point I came to realize that I hadn’t been out of the Rogue Valley in months. So the least expensive way to remove myself was just a quick overnight trip to the Oregon coast, give myself a slight change of scenery. The idyllic place for this is just far enough away in Port Orford at Wild Spring, a perfect wilderness retreat complete with a walking labyrinth, a hot tub overlooking the Pacific, and the most amazing homemade breakfast. Not to mention the rain sounds in the trees that encompass the cozy little cabins.
Refresh
About 20 years ago I made a giant coffeehouse-style mug in one of those pottery classes, and haven’t used it in ages, which is a shame because it holds a ton of liquid and has one of my most favorite quotes on it from Oscar Wilde: “On what little things does happiness depend!” Dig through the back of your cabinets for something you’ve had for ages but haven’t used in so long that it will feel like new again.
Some other fun ideas to refresh:
Shake up your beauty routine with a new face mask, hot towel shave, or choose from the endless possibilities of Jams for your nails.
Get some new undergarments and radiate from under all those layers.
Remind yourself how to play your favorite card game from your childhood like Go Fish, War, or 500.
Try It
While at the coast, the hubby and I went to one of our favorite restaurants Redfish. I’m not usually one for food with bones or shells you have to remove yourself, but I went out of my comfort zone a bit and we had a delicious bowl of freshly steamed clams. And they were delicious. So do yourself a favor and order something you’d normally never think to get off the menu.
If you aren’t into trying new foods, how about a book, podcast, or documentary you would never think to check out? Twenty years to its release date, I started watching the greatly heralded HBO show The Sopranos. With constantly new movies and shows coming out every week, think about one that you wanted to start years ago but never have. Or pick a classic film that everyone loves but you’ve never seen.
And if you want a challenge, check out this post on 14 Days of Dares.