Day 22: Side quests
Unlocking new branches of my tech tree
Weekends are an excellent time for pursuing side quests—secondary hobbies or interests that aren’t your main job. Today, I went on a few of those side quests. The hidden motive for me was to let my brain churn on ideas in the background.
As you may know, I’m learning how to play jazz piano, so today I worked on playing Autumn Leaves with some creative chord voicings . They say jazz is a language, so learning jazz gives me the feeling I felt when I first learned to code. As I build my music theory knowledge, the kinds of pieces I play or improvise become increasingly nuanced. Some days, I’ll even surprise myself with how different my playing sounds from when I first started.
I went on a walk around the city, with no clear route in mind. I simply walked wherever the crosswalk sign was green. I enjoy going on these “random walks” because they let me experience parts of the city I otherwise wouldn’t have had a reason to see. I saw beautiful buildings that I’d never seen before, even though they were only a few blocks away from my apartment. There’s a metaphor lingering in that experience about life—but I won’t bore you with an explanation.
Writing every day has also been a side quest for me. I can’t pinpoint any lasting effect it’ll have on me, but it has forced me to show up every single day, reflect on my experiences, and practice my photography skills along the way.