Jayniana Jones - Exits the Shrine of Resurrection (BOTW)

[Jayniana Jones]

I haven’t hung out in the forums since April 2019. Life truly has been a rollercoaster. Currently, I find myself in a strange land, living in a new city in Idaho (I moved from Wisconsin) where I can’t meet people because all the ways that I would normally do so are prohibited due to co-vid. In a way, it’s akin to Link stepping out of the Shrine of Resurrection after 100 years and not remembering or recognizing what he sees around him. (I just finished Breath of the Wild and I’m debating getting the DLCs to continue my denial that I’m done.)

 

I broke my ankle three weeks ago when I slipped on glare ice while walking my dogs. I’ve been skirting the edge of depression and the broken ankle caused a complete crash. I’m finally starting to feel better and recognize that my broken ankle wasn’t really what caused me to want to curl up into a little ball and not move. There were many other contributing factors that I need to work on.

 

Since my mobility is limited. I thought about using my recovery to rebuild new habits. I figured the challenge rounds are a great way to do this. 

 

Clothed in my ragged clothing, a stick I picked up along the trail for fighting the monsters along the way, I’m starting my first BOTW quests. The world looks sunny and bright.

 

My quests for this round are:

• Meditate daily for 30-45 minutes
  I read The Mindful Way through Depression by Jon Kabat-Zinn (among other authors) during the fall months. It has a 12 week guided meditation plan that will help manage depression so that it doesn’t become as debilitating. I started the first week’s plan last Sunday. I already notice a difference in my attitude.
• Do yoga at least 3 times per week
  I have a number of yoga practices that I can do completely on the floor or in a chair. Yoga got me through two ACL surgeries and a blown ankle tendon so doing it with a boot shouldn’t be a problem. I love it and have been meaning to restart a yoga streak since we moved. (My yoga streak went 369 days before it stopped.)
• Do one thing that brings me joy each week without guilt.
  Maybe this one sounds strange, but I often deprive myself of joyful activities in favor of “responsible ones” (chores or working). When I do something I enjoy, I later question whether or not it was a good use of my time when I could have done something useful. (I think this is a contributor to my depression.) I love to write, read, draw, paint, play video games, and do things outside (which right now is limited).

 

My side quest is to follow a few people on the forum because I love reading other people’s stories.

Onward.

[Chesire]

I came for the BOTW, staying for the great challenge. 

 

About how long remains for ankle healing?  And I assume subsequent PT is involved. 

Do you have a joyful thing planned for this week?

 

 

[Jayniana Jones]

@chesire Thanks for following along.  

 

I had a follow-up appointment on Thursday for my ankle, which resulted in a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. Boo. I’m hoping it is a precautionary measure but when I looked at the x-ray with my untrained eye it looks exactly as it did two weeks ago with no improvement. I’ll find out more this week. In the mean time, I have awesome hiking crutches and have walked/crutched along dry roads just to get outside.

 

My joyful item this week is starting a pen drawing of my dog. I’m trying to get enough pet portraits for my portfolio to build a side business. I’ll post a progress picture to share. 

 

I hope your week is going well.

[Jayniana Jones]

Weekly update: 

I met the Old Man (from BOTW) along my path this week. He showed me how to cook the apples I collected and offered guidance for life. This week patience with myself was the highlight for the week. 

I succeeded with the first week of the meditation, meaning I meditated for the 30 minutes per day. My mind chattered a lot. I know it will reduce over time.

Two sessions of yoga were completed.

My joy project was squeezed in on Saturday. I drew a portrait of my Aussie. It’s almost finished. I have to adjust the dark tones. A peek of my project is below.

Have a great week.
 

 

[Paisley]

Hi there, I'm late to the party but can't go past a BOTW theme.  

 

Hope the ankle is healing well.  Well done on the first week of Meditating, keep it going strong.

 

I love your picture - It's absolutely amazing you have real talent there.  Looking forward to seeing what else you can do.

[Chesire]

Knowing how to cook apples is very useful when your stick doesn't do enough damage.  Is that some sort of metaphor for life? 

 

Excellent work on the meditation, patience, and joy.  Sounds like you need it to balance out the ankle crap. 

 

Your drawing is great.  Learning how to draw is on my list of eventual things. 

 

 

[Jayniana Jones]

@paisley Welcome, thanks for following along.

 

@Chesire There are so many metaphors for life I’ve pulled from BOTW. 

[Jayniana Jones]

Last week’s update:

I learned that eating apples and  hylian mushrooms have the power to heal both in the game and in real life. Haha. I met with the surgeon who told me that I won’t need surgery. My ankle appears to be stable and healing. Whew.

 

 

This week I found my fancy Hylian trousers near the temple and fought a few Bokoblins. In my life, the Bokoblins represent self-doubt and negative feelings. I won’t go into depth about the critical voice that shouts in my head. However, I’m a fiction writer with the goal of making enough money to cover our living expenses. I have 7 novels published and another one ready to go live once I make a few adjustments. I have just over sixty short stories written that I send out semi-regularly. So far, none of them are published but I keep submitting. The rejections don’t feel like the monsters, but the act of finding the next magazine to send to and submitting to the magazine is where the Bokoblins pop-up. Thank goodness I can strike them with mops and sticks.    

 

My mediation goal continues. I haven’t missed a day. The practice schedule added a 10 minute sitting meditation to the 30 minute full body scan. I found the 30 minute session easier to maintain focus. I think it is because the meditation shifts focus to different parts of the body instead of only the inhale and exhale. My head is a noisy place. The cool thing is that over the weekend I felt like a curtain was lifted. I felt grateful and satisfied with life. Nothing in my circumstances changed so I’m giving the meditation practice credit.  

 

The yoga goal I put on hold. The floor sessions bothered my ankle even when in the boot. The chair practices feel like upper body stretches that I do each time I move away from my computer and I don’t like them as much. I should be able to resume yoga next week when I’m boot free.

 

The joy item was drawing again. I did a one hour freehand sketch of a labradoodle. It sort of looks like the labradoodle that I plan to do with pen, but very rough. I also signed up for a human figure drawing class that will happen at the end of March. It’s a two hour session where a model holds different poses and we draw them fast. 

 

Speaking of drawing @chesire, when the time is right, I highly recommend thevirtualinstructor.com for learning drawing techniques. Matt (the instructor) has a class titled “25 Days to Better Drawing” where he walks through the basics of drawing and how to approach a subject. It is the best drawing class I’d taken.

 

I hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for following along.

[Chesire]

Whew! about the ankle.  Though, now is for besting the Time Beast with your Patience power.  And the boot.  : )  As much as it's annoying to lose a great yoga streak to something like that, it is certainly a valid reason. 

 

So, I know next to nothing about the publishing world, but I've always had the impression that having a short story published is a matter of timing and luck.  As in, the publisher is looking for a certain thing -feel, theme, character type- and uses what suits, as opposed to simply what is a good, interesting, or well-written story.  Or the author's name is known to them. 

 

I so happy for you that the meditation has had such an identifiable result for you.  Meditation/Mindfulness are part of my current explorations but not yet a formal practice, meaning I don't sit down for mindfulness time.  I do try to be in the experience for dog walking time; listening to birds, noticing differences daily in the world around (buds are setting on the trees!,) etc.  I even tried a little during dinner by paying a bit more attention to my food and experience as a whole.  I suppose that is the goal in general.  I finally got a Jon Kabat-Zinn (audio)book and love his style so far.  You were the final push to explore him, so.... thanks!

 

And thank you for that drawing link.  I've bookmarked it for later. 

 

Keep up the great efforts!  Or maybe keep up the great enjoyments!

[Jayniana Jones]

I’m posting an update to this post as a recap of my wanderings through the Great Plateau of Hyrule. 

 

Meditation is going well. Mentally it is helping a lot. The only days I missed for my 30 minute meditation practice were travel days to and from Park City for my son’s snowboard competition. Last Sunday I actually felt satisfied and happy with life. Sadly, it has been awhile since I felt that way. My life is far from perfect but I think the meditation is helping stop the negative thoughts from taking over my brain. I’m definitely less critical of myself and what I do. I’m also not viewing myself as a total loser. Hooray for progress. 

 

My ankle is healing. The doctor gave me clearance to do what I can handle. This means next round I can do a modified fitness routine.

 

The joy elements were a fun one to pursue. I noticed that I procrastinated what made me happy until the weekends. I finished three dog portraits and read two books. Plus, every time my husband asked me to join him on a walk I went with him and crutched by his side. 

 

Overall a good round. Next round, I plan to check in more.