Remember the days when you couldn't just charge your phone anywhere and had to charge it overnight and then spend the following day praying that the battery would last until you get home from work?
Remember how the battery icon would show 4, 3, 2, and then 1 bar, and at the most stressful moment, it would turn red?
Oh, you've never experienced this? you're too young then, go to TikTok!
Remember low battery?
Well, my battery has been low since March of 2020 when Covid hit, and there's still no proper charger in sight.
I mean, it's not dead yet (thank God), and it does get a daily dose of power, enough to keep me going, but the big things that used to charge my battery overnight are not available to me at the moment, and so the focus now is on what's left, and what can be done in order to charge it, even if not fully.
Here's what I do to charge my battery nowadays.
Stupid TV shows Sorry, did I say stupid? I meant stupidly perfect.
Write this down: "Bling Empire". It's like "Yummy Mommies", only with way more money and botox, and you need nothing but a TV screen or an iPad to watch it, not even your brain!
I find that the best way for me to clear my mind and recharge is actually by watching shows like this one. No thinking required, and it has such a minimal (to non-existent) grip on reality, that it actually allows me to escape the real-life for an hour or so and surround myself with non-sense. I think they call it escapism for a reason, and it charges my battery pretty quickly.
Online shopping
It's not like I have much choice. Most of the stores have been closed for months now, so if I need anything that's not food or medications, it has to be purchased online. But what gives you more satisfaction than seeing a cart fill up and then pressing "Order" and waiting for a package to arrive? We order so many things online now and get them delivered to our building lobby, that my kids' new favorite activity is running to the front desk to check if there's a package for us. Doesn't matter if it's toilet paper from Costco or bananas from Metro, the joy on their face when they find out there's a package is priceless.
That, and the smell of new clothes from Zara.
Best. Charger. Ever.
Decluttering my kids stuff No offense, Marie Kondo, folding socks in a creepily symmetrical way and putting everything in buskets is nice and all, but nothing, nothing (!!!) sparks more joy than getting rid of my kids 'art'. And by art I mean the 2,849 drawings they make every day, 558 pipe cleaners, and endless stickers that are stuck to anything but paper. Now add a global pandemic that forced us to stay home for almost a year, and you can multiply those numbers by 300. So when the kids go to bed and I want to clear my mind and get some energy, I clear their stuff.
Work Funny enough, work used to eat up most of my power. But after being home with the kids for such a long time, and under lockdown for even longer, work is my escape now. It's where I go to clear my mind and deal with things that are not meals, laundry and kids. Yes, I spend 20% of every client call talking about my kids (it seems that this is what everyone wants to talk about nowadays, given that we can't do anything and travel anywhere and that the weather is irrelevant, because, well, we can't do anything), but still, there's the remaining 80% that make me feel like a grown-ass adult who's got their life together, and this really helps to add more power to my battery.
Complaining
I am Jewish, after all, and if there's one thing that we're good at (aside from celebrating everything by eating) is complaining. I have now mastered complaining to the point where I recharge just by sharing my frustration with others, and oftentimes by listening to them. It sometimes feels like giving away my problems clears up a lot of space on my end and allows me to focus on the positive, which always brings more (good) energy.
How do you charge your battery? I would love to hear.
Comments