Thursday, January 31, 2008

A Good Year

I was thrilled the other day to see that A Good Year was on HBO last week, more thrilled that I actually was able to sit and watch the entire movie from start to finish, but that is another blog that involves cable, and on demand, way too complicated to get into. A Good Year is based on Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle, one of my favorite books about dropping out of society. The character is forced to choose between his high powered advertising job and rehabbing a Provence hotel. In the movie, Russell Crowe's choice is the ad job or reviving a centuries old vineyard and estate. These are pretty good choices to drop out of society... There has been a lot of talk about dropping out, chucking it all for the lottery or the big inheritance lately and I realize that it is more than the money that enables these dreams to happen. Although, money does make things easier. Within that fantasy lies more than just the idea of escape, it represents something much deeper. As a drop out myself, I realized a nagging feeling of missing something, perhaps the thing I wanted to do most that went unrecognized. For Russell and his literary counterpart, balance and quality of life became the major issues, secondary to the money. For me, working in publishing for fourteen years made me want to write. The real question should be what would you do without the lottery winnings, without the inheritance. What would you never trade for an escape fantasty. In essence, what represents your good year? Perhaps the opposite is true, what would represent your bad year?

Monday, January 07, 2008

Organize as maintenance

Dear Blog,
This is my heartfelt apology. I have neglected you, left you unattended and uncared for and for that I am truly sorry.

I realize that my blog like any thing in life, needs constant work and constant maintenance. A fact that I keep learning over and over again especially at this time of year, when I clean out the shelves of the local farmers market and tell red meat, see ya next year!

On day seven, I am keeping up my workout routine where recently a well meaning young sales associate tried to up sell my current membership. He asked about my fitness level, my routine, my likes, my dislikes, everything short of my favorite color workout tank and the question I was waiting for, as I had the perfect answer... "If you could be a professional athlete, who would you be?" My answer is Jackie Robinson, one that, I am convinced could have no correlation to any current workout.

In an exasperated fashion, I answered his questions until I finally hit rock bottom, "I have been working out for twenty years! When can I just stop?" The young man grinned...

And that is when it hit me, it never stops, exercising, eating well, organizing, writing are daily pursuits that need maintenance. So for this year, I am taking baby steps, a little bit of each, each day, seeking balance in the maintenance, the habits, the routines.

I did renew my membership, but drew the line on the personal trainer. For now, anyway, I have lots of veggies to eat....