Phew. Well I worked every night this week, which left little time for “fun adventures” in the midst of also trying to find a new apartment, pack up the old apartment, and plan some larger-scale summer adventures. I do recognize that these are rather “privileged problems” and am not complaining so much as explaining.

To break up the monotony, I made a point to include something outside of my routine into each night, whether it be a “frou frou” coffee or something to look forward to in my lunch. One day I just bought myself new pens, which is both practical – since nurses always have at least one pen on them – and something I get weirdly excited about. I’ll admit that I ended up buying something each day, which I didn’t intend when I started this challenge for myself. Again, I recognize that this is a privilege, and I’d definitely like to get back to finding adventure in the priceless things (taking more time to spend in nice weather, having a meaningful conversation with someone, etc.).

On Saturday I got called to work mandatory overtime on my ward; my hospital has some pretty significant staffing shortages and relies, for good or for bad, on regular staff to fill in those gaps. Although a 16-hour workday was hard on both my feet and my sleep schedule, I actually enjoyed getting to see my patients in a different capacity. It was more challenging than my typical shift just because I had different tasks and responsibilities, but I enjoyed the challenge more than I expected. I also had, to my surprise, a good bit of time to interact one-on-one with my patients, whether that be speaking Spanish with one patient, getting another patient to take her medication after she’d refused, or being a collaborative part of a medical decision.

The take away here is to find adventure even in the midst of a busy work week. After all, those are the times when mental health can most easily get out on the back burner but also when it might be the most important.