The H Word

I find it funny that, as a child, I looked at adults as having it all put together.  They'd been there, done that, figured out all the hard stuff, and now they were just on the ride for the rest of their lives.  I guess that probably wasn't true, although life really was more simple "back then", wasn't it?  Well, being an adult isn't so easy I'm finding out, now is it?  The more advanced we become, it seems that the more complicated life gets.  We have to grow up, go to school, become successful in life, relationships, marriage, job, kids etc.  Also, we have to be healthy, eat right, avoid all the toxins that seem to be added to what should be healthy foods, and exercise like maniacs to stay fit.  Then just exercising isn't enough, we have to be successful at the exercise we do.  Whether it's to run faster than the next girl, spin those peddles faster than that other biker chick, and win some races so that you can upgrade to the next level to do it all over again and work even harder.  Pick your fitness poison.  Then there's the cell phones, desk tops, lap tops, iBooks, iPods, iPhones, i.... what's next?  Facebook, twitter, blogger.... my head is spinning just writing about it.

Earlier this year, I took a hiatus from Facebook.  Suddenly, I had all kinds of time on my hands.  What to do?  Better question is, what did I do on Facebook all that time?  Then there's the bike.  For almost 4 years, I spent enormous amounts of time riding bike and racing.  It has been fun to test myself, improve my riding skills, overcome race anxiety, and maybe, just maybe, get a little bit good at it (in my amateurish way).  Then I crashed (or rather, someone took me out) and after surgery and 3 months of recovery later, I lost that passion to race.  I keep trying to regain it; I miss the feeling of being in that kind of fitness, of being able to keep up with the big boys on a training ride.  But I haven't been able to make myself do it.  I joined a new team, put the $$$ into the new kits, and keep thinking "I will start racing."  But I just missed my favorite race of the year.  I still ride some.  But, you know what?  I have more time.  Time for hobbies.  Yep, I said it.  Hobbies.  I got a new camera, and I'm trying my hand at photography.  Guess I want to be like my big sister.  And then I got this great yard, that needs a lot of work and I get to cut things down.  With the longer daylight hours.... watch out trees, you're getting trimmed!

I was struck by this tonight, as I was reading the latest issue of Sunset Magazine (April 2010).  I'd love to post the whole article, but I couldn't find a link so you'll just have to find it for yourself.  Anne Lamott writes:

"I begin with my core belief -- that there is nothing you can buy, achieve, own, or rent that can fill up that hunger inside for a sense of fulfillment and wonder.  But the good news is that creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable weath of time spent quietly in beauty.  Then I bring up the bad news: You have to make time to do this.  This means you have to grasp that your manic forms of connectivity -- cell phone, email, text, Twitter -- steal most chances of lasting connection or amazement.  That multitasking can argue a wasted life.  That a close friendship is worth more than material success... I know how addictive busyness and mania are.  But I ask them whether, if their children grow up to become adults who spend this one precious life in a spin of multitasking, stress, and achievement, and then work out four times a week, will they be pleased that their kids also pursued this kind of whirlwind life?... If so, what manic or compulsive hours will they give up in trade for the equivalent time to write or meander?  Time is not free -- that's why it's so precious and worth fighting for...  At 80, will they be proud that they worked their fingers to the bone providing a high quality of life, but maybe accidentally forgot to be deeply and truly present for their kids, and now their grandchildren?..."

Ah, Life.  There's so much to do, places to go, people to meet.  But wait, take a moment, breath in deep, go on that run, and watch the sky as it turns from night into the dawn full of colors and light.  Go to that place far away, and don't just see it, but look at it, look in it's knooks and it's crannies.  Go to that friend, and don't just sit next to each other mute as you watch the newest chick flick, but sit in that coffee shop over a steamy hot cup and share all your knooks and your crannies.  Hobbies.  Whether it's friends, family, travel, garden or camera, enjoy each and every moment.  There may be quite a few of them, but they won't last forever.