I will do a two-part journal as my typical day had changed tremendously, I was a full-time worker, I start my day at seven and probably end it at 10. I remember working most of the time, meeting clients, replying to emails, attending conferences around the world, meeting new people also from around the world.  I had loved that life, as it had such a buzz and thrill. Imagine learning new things every day?? the amount of information that one receives during university visits are incredible. I remember in one of my visits, we did creative writing, a TV interview, worked at the nursing lab, found a germ in biology lab, did sport and exercise science experiment; also, I did wall climbing, fencing and bowling.

 

That was a life to remember and cherish, but my life since Covid became more grounded. I missed the traveling, but I was so productive that I completed a book, wrote so many blog posts, started on my memoir, wrote many children stories and had them animated too (by an artist of course). I have learnt how to draw, and that’s where I found out that I wasn’t a good one.  Thus I decided that my life is mostly going to be writing.

 

I start my day with Breakfast, check my phone ( I am not going to say what time I wake up so you do not judge me!) and once the time is up I spend time with the baby, I find it so relaxing and fruitful, one learns a lot from just holding a baby. I will give you an example, when we were living in New Zealand, my kids had to look after an egg for a whole week, so they had to put their eggs in baskets, drew on them, decorate the basket, have it next to them when they have their dinner, and have the basket is on the same bed when they sleep.  At the end of the week the students are so happy to show off their baby, even though some had dropped the egg and broke it!!. This experiment shows the students how to be creative, and at the same time how to be responsible in looking after fragile things, people or anything else.

 

While the baby is sleeping I do some writing work on my laptop, or watch some TV, or read my book.

 

I am also a member of few reading groups, so I am committed to read and probably finish a book or two a week.  Judging from my Goodread account, I completed 79 books this year, which is actually below what I wanted to achieve. My reading can be in Arabic or English, I also try to dabble in French, just so I don’t forget the language.

 

I am committed to my exercise, so either jogging, walking, swimming or yoga is a mandatory commitment for me, completing 10 thousand steps is what gives me the thrill and lightens my day.

 

I love cooking, I make few items every day as well, like cakes or cookies, pies, kebabs and stuff like that.

 

I feel a journal is not an account of what we do everyday, its our thoughts; what do we want from our lives, where do we want to reach, and that constant nagging at the back of our heads about everything in life. While driving we judge people when they are driving a nice car but disturbing the drivers or dumping garbage in the streets. Or one would be thinking of what next to do? Or thinking what would have happened if one didn’t do this or that, or the opposite, what would happen if I took this route or that.  Many of these thoughts can be disturbing too, especially if they torment you about something you did in your life and want to forget about.  Like a bad decision, I wrong word you said to someone, neglecting a friend in need, suspecting your husband or your kids of doing something (when it was all the mind playing up)

 

If you want my advice, gather your thoughts, and make something with it, you could be having 60000 thoughts a day (or was it every hour? Not sure, I read this fact somewhere) these can make a story if one was able to record it.  I often think what if we have a device in our brain like a USB, that records all our thoughts? That would be great, and maybe scary too.  I remember watching a movie by Robin Williams called the final cut, that’s what I would like to have installed in my brain.

 

The picture is from this site(thanks for letting me share it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMyv8s7IcbE&ab_channel=JohannaClough