I requested and have been on
an unpaid leave of absence from work
since the start of May
it was approved for 4-6 months
and I've chosen to take the full 6 months
through the end of October
today, Tuesday, September 6, 2022
feels like the start of this next phase of the leave
hence the reason I'm blogging...
for me the initial goals of the leave were:
> to take every thought captive
> to take every action, behavior, choice captive
> to deconstruct and understand all those things taken captive
> to discover and establish unforced rhythms of grace that are best for me
> to figure out what to accelerate, stop, and start
> to break free of my dependence on anxiety medication
> to improve my overall physical health
> to hopefully lose the 100# I'd gained since 2016
many wonder...
what do I do all day?
what am I learning?
how will I know if the leave has been "successful"?
what am I going to do next?
what are the latest tvz stories?
so...
I take notes extensively throughout every-single-day
[just ask the people who do life closest to me, it's a constant for me]
I feel like I've reached the point in this process
where I think I have all the pieces of a 5,000-piece puzzle
[if you don't like puzzles, then this analogy is going to sound awful to you]
I have all the pieces spread out on a table
and I have them all turned right side up so I can easily see them
and now it's time
to sort them
starting by building the frame of the puzzle (hence the title)
so that
I can then assemble all the pieces and see what it reveals
there's no picture to follow
it's truly the labor of matching piece by piece
and I'm choosing to write and post about it frequently
future posts will include the things I've taken captive
the pieces of my puzzle
to get started
most days of each week include
but in no particular order
the following
mantra theme that has evolved
>>mornings are for me unapologetically<<
no agenda, no deadlines, no guilt, nearly zero obligations
just be
we are human BEings
apps
I have a series of apps I navigate every morning
Blockudoku daily challenge only
Facebook feed, memories, birthdays
Instagram notifications
email
MobilePatrol
Photos on this day from years past
Wordle
The Weather Channel
Two Dots for 5 lives only
Notes
sweat & devotion
I use my sauna every single day (Sunlighten Solo)
and while I sweat profusely
I also listen to my worship music playlist
on shuffle
at a volume that enables me to speak without hearing my own voice
and when I find myself wanting to escape the sauna
I instead choose to focus on my breathing
movement
most recently I'm doing Pella Pilates 3X per week on a reformer machine
initially I started out with 30 Days of Christian Yoga via youtube at home
as well as some Les Mills BodyPump also at home
+Cupping Massage Therapy weekly
+CranioSacral Therapy ideally weekly
supplements & food
about 4 out of 7 days a week for about 3 out of 4 weeks a month
I choose to eat ketogenic, low carb high fat with 22:2 intermittent fasting (IF)
and I choose to monitor my ketosis levels using FORA
to check both my blood glucose and ketones every morning
and tracking my resulting GKI on an app
in a future post I can further explain my inspiration for keto
for keto I follow Dr. Boz [Annette Bosworth, MD] and Dr. Mindy Pelz
we only eat out at most 1X per week
otherwise, I have supper cooked and ready to eat at 5:00
supporting cast for the sauna, movement, keto & IF lifestyle include
in no particular order
LMNT electrolyte drink mix
Max Strength Keto Combo BHB with MCT C8:C10 drink mix
Bio Toxin Binder
ION Intelligence of Nature Gut Support
6 bottles of 16.9 fl oz of water
coffee salted with Redmond Real Salt
avocados
Sea Moss Gel from The Transformation Factory (Shark Tank prompting)
Inner Defense from Young Living
Ningxia Red from Young Living
Tino Prebiotic Fiber from Silver Fern mixed in my afternoon decaf coffee
hair & clothes
my hair is getting much curlier with age
so it prefers to air dry which is totally possible while on leave
and most of the time it's knotted on top of my head
paired with my favorite leggings, quarter zips, and flip flops
sprinkled into some days/hours may also be any combo of these
designing tattoos
reading books
walking dogs
taxi youngest son
jeopardy
laundry, dishes, vacuuming
phone calls
coffee connections
showing up when invited
making dragonflies
hopefully you notice a vagueness that flows
more learnings from leave to come,
-tvz
