Deep down, I always knew I had an unhealthy, over-excessive, and obsessive attachment to my laptop and watching movies, tv shows, and Korean dramas. Over the years, it switched from being a deep attachment to an addiction. I’d spend days on bed, just binge-watching and rewatching one k-drama/movie/tv-show after another. It was a nasty addiction that needed to be cut, cold turkey. So, that’s what I did. It has officially been 21 days since I’ve made the decision to stop consuming these forms of media. Alhamdulilah! Don’t get me wrong, I do still have moments where I miss and deeply crave my escapism. I really do. So, instead of thinking about it any longer and giving in to my desires, today I would like to share what I’ve been spending time doing!

1. Going on walks!

I always went on walks with an ulterior motive; I sometimes did it because I desperately needed to leave my house, or I wanted to lose some weight, or I wanted to be alone. Nowadays, I actually look forward to walking for the sake of walking! I like doing it when there’s minimal foot traffic early in the morning, but I like switching things up sometimes. As soon as I get back from my walks, my head feels clear, and I have energy to tackle what needs to be done for the day. Alhamdulilah. One thing I realized from my walks is that I’m the type of person who gains a lot of energy from being alone with my thoughts. If I’ve been around people for an extended period of time, I feel stuffy and don’t know where I stand with things. Almost as if I can’t figure out where people’s traces end and where I begin.

2. Stop what you’re doing for a moment, and stare at the sky.

It’s really cool. It’s huge. It has not faults, no cracks, none of that whatsoever. Remember that ayah in surah Al-Mulk that reads:

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَـٰوَٰتٍۢ طِبَاقًۭا ۖ مَّا تَرَىٰ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ مِن تَفَـٰوُتٍۢ ۖ فَٱرْجِعِ ٱلْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَىٰ مِن فُطُورٍۢ

˹He is the One˺ Who created seven heavens, one above the other. You will never see any imperfection in the creation of the Most Compassionate. So look again: do you see any flaws? (67:3)

Alhamdulilah. It reminds me that my problems aren’t so big. Remember, dear reader: the sky is gigantic; your problems aren’t. I do this for a couple of minutes whenever I feel down. Sometimes, I get lost in my thoughts for a hot minute, and I’ve noticed that whenever I stare at the sky, I’m always thinking of things differently than I normally do. I steer towards positive/inquisitive kind of thoughts, which is great. Alhamdulilah.

3. Sleeping. Lots of sleep. I’m making up for those nights I spent studying.

I wouldn’t call this a super-duper healthy alternative to binge-watching, but it’s something. Hey! lets look at one positive aspect of this: at least I’m not sinning when I’m sleeping, alhamdulilah. It’s actually weird, though. I’m not the napping type. I never was. But, yesterday, I napped for four hours!!! And I woke up feeling disoriented. It was good!!! Back in the day, I couldn’t bring myself to nap for the acceptable number of hours one is allowed to nap, which I believe ranges from 30 minutes to 4 hours. A couple of years ago, if I said I was taking a nap after I prayed Asr, that meant that I wanted to sleep until tomorrow, and that is what usually happened. Things are taking a lovely turn now. AAAAHHH! I love this for me. Alhamdulilah.

There’s one thing I want to do. I want to get back into reading. I used to read for days on end. I miss the feeling of getting lost inside a good book. My brain isn’t too fried to get back into it. I deleted TikTok for the summer, so I have plenty of time to ease back into my love of reading. May Allah grant me that which benefits me from the books I read. Ameen. Okay, that’s all for now.

فِي أَمَانِ اللَّهِ