Weekend Wrap: A Day Late, a Crushing Album Short

Each weekend, I like to pause, reflect, and look back on the past week. This isn't meant to be a deep dive or sweeping life philosophy—just a collection of things that caught my attention, made me think, brought me joy, or stayed with me in some way.

What I Noticed

Today wasn't awesome.

No particular reason. It was an accumulation of many small nicks and scrapes. But I felt put upon. I felt that I was being dealt with harshly. Life was having a go at me.

Pathetic.

I have to be honest. It really annoyed me. Yes, I annoyed myself.

It is so easy to fall into this trap. To think that we are having a rough go of it. When I realized just how silly I was being, it didn't make things better.

Sometimes we just feel down, sad, and that things aren't great.

And that is okay. That is something I am trying to learn. Not just learn, I suppose. To internalize. To make part of my mental models.

It is okay to not be okay. And I don't have to ruminate on it. I don't have to try to fix it. That just makes it worse. Instead, I can accept it. I can recognize it is.

And then give it less power over me. I think that being willing to live often simply means we are able to accept what is. Fighting what is wastes our energy.

Accepting it is living.

What Helped

This past week, our D&D group got together again.

This isn't new. We have been doing this for years, with only small breaks. It doesn't matter that this isn't new. In fact, it is one of the things I love the most.

It is part of our lives now. We get together. We eat too many snacks, and all regret it (inevitably, someone will throw something back into the snack bin, just to get it off the table and out of reach).

And every time, we are all so happy we did it.

Getting together, having fun, enjoying life. It always helps. Doesn't matter how. It just does.

What I’m Enjoying

Yes, yes, I am a little crazy and odd.

Today, feeling down and out of sorts, I found solace in the most cathartic and depressive doom metal ever. Lacrima Mortis, but Dutch band The 11th Hour.

I can't explain it. Something about the soul-crushing sadness and heaviness (existentially—not just musically) really works for me. The darkness seems to remind me, on some level, that it is okay for things to suck.

So today, this 14-year-old slab of doom metal put a smile on my face. Weird? Yes.

But it works.

What I’m Practicing

I continue to work on getting more regular with my workouts. It is far from perfect. But last week was a good one.

I hope to continue this week.

One Thing to Improve

Ah, if there were only one thing. Life would be grand.

There are many. But this week, it is keeping that forward motion going with my workouts. Redundant? It is. But essential.

Wrapping Up

The end of summer always feels odd to me.

For so many years it held so much importance. Going back to school. Changing years in medical school and residency.

It has been a time of transition for so long that now that it no longer is, I always find myself feeling a tad lost.

I feel that there should be some transition in my life. There is not. It is the same thing.

Again.

And again.

I should embrace it. I struggle to do so.

So we just keep trying.