“In March I'll be rested, caught up and human.” - Sylvia Plath.

March is the true beginning of the year after February's depression. it is a hot month here in Nigeria and this one wasn’t any different. Cold days might be weather for two but hot days are for family because people tend to gravitate towards cool spots, be it in the house or in the community. This might not be true for all regions but at least in the region I grew up in, hot days are when you find humans both young and old under large trees and shades having overlapping conversions, especially factoring in the power supply issues. Despite the heat, this is the happiest and most peaceful I've been in a while, I’ve even kinda forgotten how it truly feels. You would think it was a month of rest and good news but surprisingly it’s actually the opposite.

March was one of my busiest months, I had tasks and lots of “unfortunately'' mails yet somehow I kept my cool and stayed positive. I am now convinced that I truly enjoy my job because there’s no way tasks can still make me happy or maybe I like rhythm and I can easily settle into a rhythm when it comes to writing code. Whatever it is about this stuff, I am grateful for it. Ramadan (a month of fasting for muslims) also started this month and I believe it helped narrow down my goals and perspective on certain aspects of my life and decisions. This was also the biggest contributor when it came to keeping my routine because I set out specifics down to the last hour of my bedtime which helped keep my focus in check. My most tiring day was when I commuted a cumulative of 4.5 hours for an IWD event. It was worth it but after iftar, the fatigue came at once.

I botched an interview this month which wasn’t even a technical interview and my “sore loser” personality took a hit. Not knowing the reason is way worse. They could have at least stated why but recruiters don’t have that time on their hands, so even though closure would have been great, I am not self absorbed or vain enough to let it bother me as much. Writing this, I realized I should have just replied to the email and asked 😅, but if I’m being honest, I was a little bit sad and that didn’t even cross my mind. After my mind had settled, I realized the job wasn’t even for my primary skill set and I might have failed the technical test; that helped me accept the situation and move on.

I almost ended the month without any episodes of procrastination but that would have been akin to finding a unicorn. I started my masters degree last year and I currently have a thesis to write but reading research papers is proving difficult. It finds its way to my daily or weekly todo only to end up being the only item to be crossed instead of ticked. I am currently blaming it on the fact that I’m fasting and can’t concentrate but the truth is that I just hate studying something that isn’t formulas and calculations. It’s boring, if I’m going to read, let it be stories about other people in faraway and nonexistent places. That’s more my speed.

This brings us to the state of my reading slump that has been fixed. I finally completed the book I lent from my friend and will soon be beginning the oldest series in my collection, the shadow and bone series. I’ve kept it gathering dust for too long now. Let’s hope it’s worth the hype else another slump is in my future. I'm thinking of adding a book review section to this site but that will require some mini planning on my part and I don't think I have the time right now. Still on hobbies, I slept quite a lot this month. I realize this doesn’t sound like and achievement but for me sleep is my greatest ally and how I measure my mental state, (elegant, I know 😌), so yes, I’m happy if I sleep a lot.

This brings us to the end of another boring month in the life of DeeDee which she’s going to keep documenting because apparently it’s good for her. In conclusion, March was hot, happy, uncertain and full of disappointment. My special cocktail of oxymorons 🙃.