Dotty and I will obviously continue to be friends. We will talk on the phone, but it is going to leave a huge hole in my life.
Dotty and I got together about 6 times a week. None of this was quantified, but this is about, an average, of what happened.
- Twice a week to work out.
- Twice a week to write.
- Once a week for 'culture'
- Once week for something else.
- expanded my social circle. She has a lot of friends (most of whom wouldn't make my list as friends). Maybe I need to be a lot less selective in my life.
- Supported me being healthier in more creative ways. We did a CSA (where we got a share in a local farm, and then each week we'd get together and cook all our veggies for the week, throughout the summer and early fall). We were going to get community gardening beds together. We did lots of hikes, went kayaking. I tended to suggest more conventional exercise; she tended to suggest paddle-boarding, driving out of the city to pick apples or getting together to cook.
I think I have working out covered.
- Sunday: running class (for the next 6 weeks)
- Monday: A neighbor is coming over to do an exercise tape
- Tuesday: Nothing
- Wednesday: Running Class (next 6 weeks)
- Thursday: Small group 'boot camp' class. I've paid for it for the next 4 months.
- Friday: Spin class
- Saturday: Possible spin class (OK teacher, but I don't like her like Fridays)
Writing: Dotty and I wouldn't talk that much during this time. We'd just meet at a common place and write together. I had a tendency to procrastinate. (I'd even been known to write a blog entry when I should have been working on an article.) But it was important. It is possible I should schedule going to the coffee shop or library a couple of times a week. I know I need to get out of the damn house now that Dotty won't be here.
Social Life: I don't know! Honestly, several of Dotty's friends would like to be friends with me, but I don't really click with them. I tend to be highly selective in my friends. It's weird because I'm intellectual extroverted, but I tend to be introverted on everything else.
Culture: Honestly, I don't know. There's so few good things I see. I'm scared if I quit going to the symphony, opera and theatre, my world will get a little smaller. Occasionally I see something heart-breakingly beautiful. But it is pretty occasional. I don't know if I'll keep going on my own.
Creative healthy things: This one will be hard for me. My tendency is to think a little grimly. I LOVE ice-skating and tolerate spinning, but I make time in my life for spinning because it makes me sweat and not for ice-skating because 'all' it does is make me smile. (Skating really isn't very good exercise.) On one level, I think it is really important, but I haven't made that a priority, and I think I need to figure out how to do that. I won't do a CSA without her (I travel too much). I probably won't do a community gardening bed either (ditto). I don't think I'll go on long hikes (aside from some groupons) or pick apples or visit a 'local' farm. I think that is OK. I think I will miss the company more than those activities.
Restaurants: Dotty and I went out to eat a couple of times a week. I think I can live without that. It was her company that was way cool, not whatever restaurant we happened to find.
So I guess my resolutions are:
- Find a couple of new friends
- Write at the library or coffee shop at least once a week (preferably twice)
- Make space for some creative, healthier things.
- Get out of the fucking house! Even when it is raining.
Dotty (who is naturally thin and an MD) thought I was in great shape. She never let the fact that I was a size 14/16 upstage the fact that I tended to have an easier time than her in whatever exercise we did. It was really important to me that she affirmed that I wasn't lazy or in bad shape.
Dotty encouraged me to be more playful and less grim with food and exercise. She wanted me to enjoy food.
No comments:
Post a Comment