And just to prove it, I'll say what I love.
- This might be stealing, just a bit, from Hightouch, but I love all forms of escapist entertainment: movies, books, magazines, TV shows, the internets, videos on YouTube, crossword puzzles, etc, etc, etc. Over Christmas break I worried that I loved these things more than my actual life. That if I could live in a movie theater and not come out, I would. It's easier than being me, pretending I'm someone else for just a little while. Maybe it's because for awhile I can not worry or think, but just absorb. Some of my favorite escapes: American Idol, mysteries, People magazine (or any gossip rag, really, including Extra!), half-hour comedies, recently "Dexter," music videos on YouTube and others. I can't wait until our trip to New York where I can read magazines for four hours on the airplane and not feel guilty that I'm not working on all the things I should be working on right now.
- I love the outdoors. I like the quiet and I like taking Gus for trail runs. I like hiking with Son once we get past the initial half-hour of complaining. I like camping. I like having limited meal options and how the food tastes so much better because I'm eating it outside. I love cooking Tofu Pups over an open fire. I love drinking wine beneath the stars and eating dark chocolate. I love waking up first and making coffee. I like not showering for days and how good a hot breakfast tastes when we stop in a diner on the way home. I love hot chocolate. I love snuggling in my sleeping bag when I know it's cold outside.
- I love writing. I haven't had one of those out of body writing experiences lately, but I've had them enough to keep writing. It's like a writer's high. I stop thinking about what I'm writing and I'm in the moment. Afterwards I look at what I wrote and think, where did that come from? Actually, it's been awhile since I've felt that way, but I feel it's an experience I can have again. I have to remember sometimes that the experience is out there. I just have to give myself time to get there. I was talking to my students about writing and explaining this to them. I'm not sure if they believed me, but I told them it's the one thing I know. That if you write what you know you're going to write, it's not going to be good. But if you let go what you think you're going to write and just write, then you'll get somewhere. And if after two years, you have one story you still think is good, you're lucky. I read a story I wrote two years ago and when I was done I thought, "That's a good story." It doesn't happen very often. So I thought I'd enjoy the moment.
