Downtime Diaries: March 2026

Over the past few weeks, I have caught myself rushing through parts of my daily routine despite having leisure time. Whether it was washing the dishes or even taking a shower, I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the process instead of rushing as if I had to be out the door in the next couple of minutes.

Perhaps it's a bad habit I had picked up when I had a full-time job, but it's a habit that feels deeply embedded in me that I want to reprogram. The moment I catch myself rushing through the motions, a simple reminder to slow down greatly affects my stress levels. I feel my breathing slowing down and my mood shifting from one of urgency to one of relaxation. I'm curious if anyone has felt this way?

March honestly flew by, but I'm happy that spring is almost upon us! I'm excited to read in the park again while soaking up the sun.

📚 Reading: One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

Whenever I crave reading something that I simply cannot put down, I tend to pick up a thriller. The Death of Mrs. Westaway and The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware were a couple that I devoured within a matter of days. So when my book club picked thriller as the genre of the month, I thought I could count on Ware to deliver. One Perfect Couple's premise is intriguing: five couples are competing on a reality show set on a remote island 3 hours away from Jakarta, Indonesia. A storm hits, and chaos ensues, especially with a killer on the island.

I wanted to like this book, but instead of a psychological thriller, it was more of a survival read to see how these reality contestants would make it out alive. The book did lead to some deeper conversations on toxic masculinity, the exploitative nature of reality TV shows, and how abuse is portrayed in books. I gave this 1.5 stars, but at least I got a 5-star discussion out of it.

📺 Watching: Age of Attraction

I'm a sucker for reality TV. So naturally, I watched Netflix's new dating show, Age of Attraction. It has a similar vibe to Love is Blind, but instead of sight, contestants cannot ask one another's age until they choose to commit to one another with promise rings. The first few episodes follow a group of people ranging in age who gather in a retreat to see if they can form a connection. The show ultimately follows couples that are in an age gap relationship, with one couple having a 30+ year gap.

The topic of age gap relationships has been circulating online with Jennette McCurdy's second book release, Half His Age, and Kimora Lee Simmons' daughter, Aoki Lee, spotted dating a man 44 years older than her. Although this was a fascinating watch, I don't think the show delved into the power dynamics or how the differences in life experiences can affect the relationship enough for me. It merely skimmed the surface in trying to convey that age gap relationships just aren't that weird. If anything, I would say it's a ploy by the hosts, Nick Viall and Natalie Joy, who have an 18-year age gap, to convince us that age gap romantic relationships are nothing to critique. I'm hoping this show leads to more critical discussion surrounding age gap relationships, which I have seen video essays popping up on my YouTube feed. If you've watched this, please let me know because I need to discuss!!

🎨 Doing: Stamp carving

The quest to collect new hobbies seasonally lives on. After attending a rubber stamp carving workshop at the JC Print Room, I immediately got myself a starter kit to bring more creations to life. Going into the workshop with an open mind, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how easy it was to get the hang of carving the rubber stamps without prior experience. If anything, my main challenge was deciding on a design to carve, which thankfully, they had reference books that helped me narrow down my ideas.

All you really need is a pencil, tracing paper, rubber stamp blocks (the instructor recommended Speedball Speedy Carve Block), a carving tool, and ink! The act of carving the design was incredibly meditative. I also thoroughly enjoyed the process of testing as I went, because I got to see how the design evolved as I carved. If you're looking for an offline hobby, I would highly recommend giving stamp carving a try. The learning curve is relatively low, and you can make stamps to decorate journals, planners, cards, and so much more.

🎧 Listening: Jay Chou playlists

I'm not sure how many people know this, but as a tween, Jay Chou was one of my favorite artists. Every so often, I feel pulled to listen to his older albums again as an adult. My go-to albums are 七里香 and 十一月的肖邦. I love listening to these albums from beginning to end. Since adding these albums to my rotation, YouTube has been feeding me video playlists that are honestly curated exactly to my taste.

The above is one of the few that have been in my recommendations. It's always surprising to me how easily his lyrics come back to me after all these years. These playlists have been great background listening as I lounge on the couch to read.

On a separate note, I'm in dire need of new-to-me music recommendations. I've been listening to a lot of pop music, but I would love to expand into hip-hop, R&B, indie, and rock. Have an album on repeat? Send it my way!