Dancing My Way Through Burnout

 You remember how in my last post I said that from Monday to Wednesdays I feel like I have a drill sergeant yelling "GO GO GO GO GO GO!"? 

Well, that's how it felt consistently throughout the past weeks I've been MIA. But today, I can finally sit down to talk to you (I'll catch up with your blogs soon enough!), before it starts all over again. 

Uni is starting to pick up and if I don't get ahead, I'll be behind because there's no in-between. The past weeks have been full of late night visits to my 92-year-old great-grandmother at the hospital, who fell and needed to get surgery (she's finally back home resting!); editing articles for the student organization I'm senior editor in; rehearsals for a dance event this Friday, and my new Jazz (and Ballet!) classes from ANOTHER dance academy (Let's call it academy B); and trying to help my dance academy A's director with editing his backlog of raw footage. 

I often ask my mom why she takes on so much workload and extracurriculars when she knows she'll get way too stressed, yet look at me. De tal palo, tal astilla.

Plus, I'm unemployed with a long list of unanswered applications, so I figured I'd make the "best" of my free time until it's my time to work again. 

One of the things I dislike about myself is how easily I burnout, and how avoidant I become (I promise I'm working on it). 

But as usual, what makes these phases bearable are my hobbies!

I promised I'd show you the outcome of Ziggy's embroidery, so here it is! My best friend laughed so hard she cried, so I guess it's safe to assume she loved it. The crossed eyes are 100% intentional, by the way.

The letters were a last minute touch that I loved to do.

I finally sat down to scrapbook my trip to Texas this Summer. I spent a month with my boyfriend but it went by so quick, and I can't wait to see him again. ♡ 

There is something so therapeutic about making a mess when crafting.

I have also printed out this banana oatmeal cookies recipe from Cayley's blog (hiii). I have yet to make it, but I can already taste them. I love oatmeal cookies and I don't know why I never thought of adding bananas to 'em!

However, since I picked up dancing again after a looooooooong hiatus, my afternoons became pretty booked and I haven't dedicated time to my crafty hobbies. But oh my gosh, it feels so good to move again. I feel like a rusty tool that's been power-washed and now I'm squeaky clean. With proper warm-ups and stretching and I've been able to improve my knee situation. 

I've danced for a long time now, but after quarantine, my consistency died as I started developing other interests. And since then, my comebacks didn't last that long. But when I did, I forgot about the outside world. 

Friends from left to right: Julie, me, and Marco!

Can you guess which songs we're dancing to? 🤭

Friends from left to right: Meredith, me, and Kyo!

The world didn't stop spinning because I was sad or burnt out, but once I was inside the classroom, it did. I will dare to compare the feeling to whenever I have the chance to cuddle with a book I'm obsessed with while it's raining cats and dogs outside. 

I've only taken 3 jazz classes, but I already feel the improvement in my balance and flexibility. Also, I can finally do a pirouette! 

well... sort of LOL

As if it wasn't enough already, I decided to try ballet this past Monday and I loved it as well. I was lost of course, but nothing fuels me more than the challenge to master something I know nothing about. 

Also, can someone please talk me out of buying ballet outfits so soon? I got the slippers because I didn't want to keep ruining my socks but these outfits just look so cute. 

I think both jazz and ballet will definitely be helpful for improving my posture as well, since I've grown more aware of my anterior pelvis tilt. I read a woman on Reddit saying she also had it and her tilt was almost gone after a few months in adult ballet, so I'm thinking of taking a before and after picture, LOL. 

I think part of the reason I feel like I'm going insane is because I haven't had the time for leisure reading. I've been assigned pretty interesting readings at uni, but man... sometimes I just crave some so-bad-that-it's-good mafia romance slop, you know? So, I started to read The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori; I'll tell you I'm surprised that it's not corny as hell. W!

To end this on a positive perspective, although I'm very stress about my job search, I'm grateful for my boyfriend and family's support, and that I get to do all these things. 

How do you cope through burnout?

Have a great rest of your week, my friends. I'll go catch up with my reading list now. ♡