By Emily Wei, Lifestyle Columnist
After a long and cold winter, it finally feels like summer is upon us! This is the season where students come back from university, the tree in your backyard which was once brown and bare starts showing its green buds, the car you once had to heat up for 10 minutes before driving is now blasted with air conditioning, and you begin to be awoken by birds migrating back home. I don’t know if this applies for everyone, but I definitely feel like I have more freedom now and am no longer susceptible to any seasonal depression! This is why this month’s column’s goal is to take us back in time to reading “Choose Your Own Adventure” books in grade school, but with a twist! Instead of choosing how a story goes about, you will be choosing what to do for a day. I hope you get the chance to utilise one of these ideas sometime this month when you have some free time!
First off, let’s decide on your morning routine. If you’re an early riser or would like to get a head start on your day, wake up before the sunrise and watch the sun as it comes up for the day. I am personally a fan of going to a beach and watching the sunrise while sitting on a picnic blanket with a warm drink and snacks, but you could do this from the comfort of your backyard, a lookoff, or even your windowsill! On the other hand, if you prefer sleeping in a bit, let your natural internal clock decide when you wake up. After waking up, try doing something you’ve never done before. This sounds like a task that’s easier said than done but there are so many activities that we feel are common occurrences yet have never tried ourselves. For instance, try doing some pilates or yoga. Whether it be taking a class or just whipping out a yoga mat in your room, there are lots of videos online that can guide you through some simple moves. If this isn’t up your alley, I am sure that most of us have seen pictures of foods that we’ve always wanted to try but never have. So try going to a new breakfast restaurant or making your own!
Second, choose your afternoon activities. If you’re feeling active and want to do something to get yourself moving, try going for a walk/hike on one of the many trails around Nova Scotia. It can be one you’ve been on before, but if you’re feeling adventurous, try a new one! Some ideas are; the Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail, Belchers Marsh Park, Polly’s Cove Hiking Trail, and Blueberry Beach Trail. If you’re looking for a more laid back afternoon, try crocheting or reading a new book! Although I have yet to get into knitting/crocheting, I have many friends that have started and love it. There are many tutorials online that can help you get started but if you already know how to, try crocheting something you haven’t before! This can be a stuffed animal, coaster, or even a scarf that you can donate to a shelter. In addition to this, I recommend going to a bookstore and having a “blind date” with a book! This can be done by either randomly picking one that looks interesting to you or getting recommendations from staff/friends. I recently went to a used bookstore called Otis and Clementines in Tantallon and you can find basically any book you’d ever want there, have cats to follow you around and, if this wasn’t enough, all the money is donated to charity!
I hope those were enough ideas to get you through the day and although they may not seem very physically or mentally demanding, they will make you feel like you’ve been more productive than if you did nothing at home all day (not that anything’s wrong with doing nothing!). Anyway, I hope you end up using at least one of these ideas and I will see you again next month!
Image by Freepik
