“The ultimate luxury is being able to relax and enjoy your home.”
~Jeff Lincoln
Attitude is everything and in such a situation as being forced to stay home for an extended period like what’s happening now with this pandemic, it’s either we wallow in frustration or we embrace it and for many including myself, we chose the latter.
So we settled in and “nested” – a condition that makes us do stuff for our home and in our home: decorating and redecorating it; purchasing things to re-create the “experience” we used to do outside but could not do now like fine dining, reading a book at a cafe, going to the salon, having a massage, watching a movie on the big screen and many more.
To entertain ourselves, we looked for activities to do and new hobbies to be occupied with. Plantherapy trended giving birth to the monikers “plantitas and plantitos”. Photos of home-cooked food also flooded IG and FB (and I had many of these as well) and more tiktok videos uploaded.
I am no different. As a family whose weekend routine always included dining out and going to the malls, it was hard at first but we slowly got used to it. Saturdays became my movie days with my teenage daughter and we discovered that we both like watching true stories of sports icons and athletes as well as underdogs. My daughter loves to cook and bake so her dad and I were happy recipients of her experiments. The culinary skill of my niece was optimised too and my foray of the kitchen resulted to compliments from my husband and daughter. We realised that birthdays and anniversaries can be special too even if celebrated only at home. In fact, I like it more with celebrations that started with a special breakfast and ended with a fine dinner.
So I started buying pretty dining wares from the online marketplace to complete the fine dining experience at home and satisfy my shopaholic cravings. The Dalgona coffee and oatmeal cookies of my daughter became an afternoon treat and as the quarantine went into extension after extension, I went farther into re-creating the home experience. One luxury purchase I made, justified as a birthday gift to myself, was this wonderful Breville Home Barista Express https://www.breville.com.ph/the-barista-express that allowed me to make specialty coffees at home.
I joined the plant craze and started collecting different varieties of monstera, philodendron, aglaonema, fittonia, calathea and rubber trees and gained more knowledge as I researched on how to care for them and the benefits they bring to the home. Having this penchant for aesthetics, I went further deep into repotting my babies in lovely (and pricey…sigh) clay pots. Having these plants led me to reinvent some spaces in our home which now offer a more relaxed and refreshing vibe.
I also was finally able to start writing blogs which was something I wanted to do for sometime now but didn’t find the time to start.
When we go back to being able to do more of the going out stuff, I think it won’t be the same for me as this nesting have taught me the ultimate luxury of enjoying home.
Take it from Bing 
The first lockdown saw me decluttering. It was a refreshing experience to see that I do not need everything that I have. I ended up streamlining my wardrobe, my shoe and bags collection, and my kitchen stuff.
Little did I know that I was beginning to “hoard” clothes and shoes in a way. I had a difficult process as I love my shoes mostly the more pricy ones. Then I thought, I could not proceed if I dwelt on those separation anxiety feelings. Being a planner, I devised a criteria. For every item I checked myself as to the number of times I use an item, the practicality of the item in terms of use like: how easy the item is to use, maintain, wash, and store. I created piles of needed, nice to have, and could let go. Tough decisions, but I made it!!!
Findings: I could only have so much clothes, bedding, shoes, bags, and accessory. I was amazed to find stuff I have not used with all the tags in tact. The funny thing is I found out that I use same stuff over and over especially the ones that I like a lot like my workout outfits, yet I kept ordering stuff online.
All is well that ends well! I now check myself before I start browsing for stuff that I actually do not need. They are nice to have but definitely not needs.
Altogether with decluttering, I devised a plan on pursuing my fitness goals. I was used to be in the gym but with the lockdown, I was literally working out in my bedroom. I began to accumulate workout equipment as I needed them. I restructured my place to have enough space to do my stretching, dance and weight regimens. Since it was still spring-summer, I devoted some time to play outside not until I injured myself and I slowed down but never quit.
I found my nesting that even at work I sometimes do a 30-minute yoga break in the middle of the day. Conscious effort to adapt is key, I bet.
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Nice insights! I’m hoping to finish my de-cluttering too!
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Such the most wonderful NESTING Story to read. I can see how detailed kind of a person you are Ms. Bing ,😊 and I think Hubby, Martin and daughter Venice as well. I can see a good collaboration with the 3 of you. Hehe. You know clearly what you want to do and How to do it. I admire the redecorating thing and the experiment in cooking as well. All the pictures shows Beauty , excitement and labor of love. Your plants really showed LIFE to your beautiful house and I’m sure these adds you a lot of energy which you can maximize for your Fitness activities. I always love to see and live an organized home. With all of these , Life is really worth living with the Pandemic. It’s How you do it and you all did it very very well. Thanks for sharing and hope you keep it coming. 😊😊
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Much of it is really attitude. We just need to be positive always. God bless you and your family.
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