I didn’t know what to expect when I was packing for my inpatient stay. Hospital life was so far removed from me. But one thing I knew for sure — I was going to make good use of my time there.

I wanted a way to log my days — to be able to look back and see what I’d done, and to make sure I was using my time meaningfully. at first, I dove into researching bullet journal ideas and narrowed down to a page a day. But I quickly realized that I’d end up spend way too much time decorating. So I went with the boring way, the spreadsheet and color codes of course. This serve my purpose perfectly and won’t take more than two mins each day.

I packed couple of books to read; a deck of cards and board games to for kiddos‘ visits. But what I was most excited about? Watercolor.

I learned painting when I was little and had done some oil painting in recent years. I had always wanted to try watercolor and now I finally had the chance.

As I am writing this, I’m reminded of the moment that inspired me to reignited my passion for painting. A few years ago, I took my kids to the Monterey Aquarium on a quiet weekday. I saw an elderly lady sitting in the front of the big tank, sketching. It was beautiful and inspiring. I thought, Why not I start painting again?! A few weeks later, I signed up for oil painting class in the art studio where my kids learned to draw.

To me, painting is meditative. I remember once spending nearly three hours just dotting dainty floral patterns on the dress for my daughter’s portrait on a thanksgiving holiday — completely losing track of time.

Let me share a little secret: when I first picked up the brushes again, I was completely panicked. Every stroke felt like a question — Am I doing it right? Is the color off? Is the brush angled correctly? I overthought everything. But eventually, I asked myself, what am I doing. I was’t chasing after a career in art. So why I’ve been so hard on myself. From then on, I started complimenting myself on every brushstroke. That’s when painting really started to feel good.

In room 40, watercoloring brought me joy and sense of achievement. The doctors and nurses were incredibly supportive and always complimented on my works. I even taught couple of nurses paint a cute little flower! I found a nurse was also passionate about art — we became friends, shared art works, compared notes and encourage each other to keep creating! What a wonderful connection!

Another thing that made me feel good during my stay was taking online classes. I signed up Coursera and picked one class about modern art and the other one about introduction of generative AI. I chose those simply from my interests — and while I may not remember everything (especially on the days I had Benadryl), The act of learning itself felt uplifting.

As I prepare for my next hospital stay, I am already thinking about what to bring. Along with watercolor and Coursera, I have two new creative hobbies I’d love to try: making crystal jewelry and trying air dry clay. I have been browsing beads, tools and kits. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for a totally beginners like me.

Oh — and this time, I will make sure to bring couple of tennis balls and resistance band for some light exercises. Chemo stole my muscles and I want them back!

It might sound strange but part of me is looking forward to the next inpatient stay. When I’m at home, I try to spend as much time as possible with my family. But when I am in the hospital and not able to see them all the time, I can still be busy, be creative and even have fun!

Plus I have this blog now. And man! It takes time! 😀