For someone who has always been burdened with an overabundance of hobbies and interests, I found this week’s action of cultivating “high-quality leisure activities” to be an interesting, if confusing one. For years I have fought for more down-time for myself, but I am coming to learn that passive time spent scrolling through social media is neither restful nor healthy.
Yarrow has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb. Not native to North America, but naturalized, it was an early addition to my garden, and that choice ensured a healthy supply of flowers when I brewed a yarrow ale for a class I was teaching on herbed medieval ales. Even with all my research, it had one more surprise in store for me.
The first question any vegan or vegetarian is likely to hear is “where do you get your protein?” During almost 20 years of being a vegetarian, I got sick of that question, but when going vegan for the month of January, I had to ask it of myself in earnest. Turns out there are more protein sources in the plant world than I ever knew.
As someone who uses very few beauty products, I never expected to focus on them in a blog post. However, access to nail salons and habits at home have changed during the pandemic, raising questions about long-term trends. And the examination of those things also brought to light questions of health – both for people who wear nail polish and people who work in salons.
Runners know that injuries aren’t a matter of “if,” but “when.” With proper care and caution, you can often prevent repetitive use injuries; by ignoring what your body is trying to tell you, you can create them. The fibrous knot I’ve had in my foot for eight years may not have been caused by running, but my running habits have certainly made it worse.
Physical activity, particularly running, helps the body process and release stress, and it helps the mind work through lingering problems with meditative silence. I have benefited from both in the past, which makes it all the more odd that I did not avail myself of running during the most collectively stressful year we have experienced in a generation. I intend to change that in 2021.