Hello and welcome back to the blog my friend!
Today I wanted to share with you all about my love for Korean Dramas.
I never watched much television prior to pregnancy. I found my evenings filled with walks with my dog, sewing, writing new ideas for videos, or cleaning my house. I found endless ways to entertain myself and often found myself restless while watching tv unless it was on in the background while I made dough or something.
My first pregnancy was very active, save for the first trimester spent in total nausea. As soon as I hit the second trimester, I launched back on Instagram and YouTube, and was cleaning out and decorating my house like a crazy mother hen. Things began to slow down as I reached the end with Bodie, coming to a standstill as I figured out the newborn stage and healed from birth.
But just when I was about to reenter normal life, focused on YouTube, my blog, and my house, things changed forever when I found out I was pregnant with Troy.
Not only was I way way way farther along than I would have expected, I was also bleeding. Every. Single. Day. The bleeding noticeably increased with physical activity, and I put myself on bed rest. I had no choice but to move around a lot during the day with Bodie, but every evening when he went to bed, I found myself facing three to four hours before bedtime with nothing to do but force myself to lay down.
It was frustrating because I didn't FEEL sick, I didn't FEEL nauseous, and I didn't even feel tired! But I knew the statistics and I really wanted to give Troy's pregnancy the best possible chance, so off I went to the sofa, ready to scroll on my phone or scroll through television shows for hours, trying and trying to find something to fill the time. This was a difficult task, especially because I was always alone with my husband gone working his evening shifts.
I couldn't get through a movie on my own without turning it off halfway through, and I found myself sucked into depressing articles and stressful Instagram content while scrolling on my phone. I had no motivation to blog because I hadn't yet shared my pregnancy, and I really felt so distanced from my other topics like feminine fashion or relationships because motherhood and postpartum, and pregnancy were swallowing my life. I felt restless, bored, and increasingly frustrated with my lame evenings.
Until one day, I decided to change things up and try a Korean Drama.
I had to read subtitles, so I couldn't look at my phone. This meant I couldn't look at all the articles about high-risk pregnancies or late-term miscarriages... I couldn't scroll my social media to be reminded how much of a failure I felt for not posting and being largely absent, and I couldn't drain my energy with short-clipped Tik Tok videos, reducing my attention span.
It was perfect.
Korean Dramas.
Korean entertainment truly saved me in those long months of resting with Troy's pregnancy in my evenings alone. They sucked me into a different world, filling my brain and transporting me off my couch and into an entirely different culture. The romance was beautiful and believable, the scripts were compelling, and I found the difficult months of pregnancy slip by as I enjoyed motherhood during the days, and my dramas in the evenings. I even felt my anxiety reduce as I was able to disassociate and travel to another world, another story, and become mesmerized by such lovely stories.
Korean dramas are more engaging to me than most modern television. There is WAY WAY WAY less sexual content, almost none. They have a heavy emphasis on traditional gender roles, feminine style, friendship, community, and are generally quite entertaining. The food looks delicious and the chilvarous relationships are so dreamy.
I also love how well-produced many of the shows are: the sets are beautiful, the costumes are inspiring, and once you get used to the subtitles, you really get lost in another world. I hope that if you're trying to find another show to watch someday, you give Korean entertainment a chance!
Boys Over Flowers (An all-time classic and one I will rewatch 1000 times)
Because This Is My First Life (My all-time favorite drama is probably)
Hello My Twenties (I loved Season 1 of this drama)
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (soooo romantic!)
Hospital Playlist (great ensemble drama)
My ID is Gangnam Beauty (I loved the college atmosphere of this one)
Little Women (a slow burn thriller that actually made me cry)
My Mister (award winning !!)
Crash Landing on You (bittersweet ending that stops me from rewatching, but I was enraptured during the entire season)
Reply 1988 (Slice of life drama. So cute.)
Flower of Evil (a creepy thriller)
The King (I'm just obsessed with Lee Min Ho... I'm sorry LOL)
Inheritors (I'm a sucker for soapy shows)
Love Alarm (this one's fifty-fifty for me)
Cinderella and The Four Knights (brings out my 14 year old self... obsessed)
Sky Castle (kind of dark but entertaining!)
Romance is a Bonus Book (adorable and satisfying)
Her Private Life (I just die for anything with this actress, so I'd watch any of her works)
I hope you enjoy some nice fiction my dears! Give Korean dramas a try... you won't regret it. But don't watch while looking at your phone: that's my only rule.
xoxo,
Cait
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