The Whole Wide World

My going-out and socializing streak continues. Karaoke on Friday, Scott Base on Saturday, a Women of Winter get together on Sunday, and tonight which is Monday, Open Mic night. I know it’s been good for me, too. Keeps me out of my head, which is always a good thing. The Women of Winter gathering was pizza and dessert in one of the dorm lounges. Naturally, all the women on station were invited. There were 10-15 of us in attendance while I was there, which is a pretty good turn out for a winter event. Along with food and conversation, we each signed a log book that’s been kept for years and documents all the women who have wintered over down here and we also took a group photo.

Speaking of pizza and dessert, I’ve also upped my gym time ever since I noticed that those clothes were a little more snug than the last time I wore them. I’ve been doubling my mileage on the treadmill and elliptical, and I’ve added rowing into the mix. Rowing is totally new for me, so the time goes by quickly when I am doing that versus running or the elliptical. The monotony of the gerbil gym gets to me for sure. I’ve been watching YouTube videos about rowing in the hopes that it will help me have good form and not pick up any bad habits. Fingers crossed.

I was a daily gym goer pre-covid back in Virginia. I typically went to classes though because the group setting keeps me motivated and I like having the structured routine. My all time favorite class is Les Mills Bodypump, which is basically choreographed weight lifting to music. I loved that class and would get up at 4:45 in the morning multiple times a week to attend it. When covid brought that to a screeching halt, I can honestly say that I physically craved the class for months and months, in fact I still do. Covid turned me into a trail runner though and those weekend morning runs at Raven Rock sparked my love for the Appalachian Trail and that was most definitely a good thing. I seriously can’t wait to put my pack on and climb a mountain after this. I see photos regularly from all the hiking groups on social media and I crave every aspect of backpacking, even the suck. Soon enough, soon enough.

There I go day dreaming about another adventure while I am still in the middle of this one. A reminder of one of the mantras I try to live by. Staying in the moment. That, and playing the tape forward and back. These are things that are encouraged in AA in relation to drinking, but honestly, they could be useful to anyone in many things in life, not just in regards to drinking.

When I was sharing my Peace Corps experience with a friend at karaoke the other night, I explained I worked with a women’s cooperative of weavers and one of the subsequent questions I was asked was ‘did I learn to weave’. Sadly, I have to answer that with a ‘no’ and it kills me every time as that is a question I am often asked. I spent the better part of two years sitting with women who were weaving and it never crossed my mind to try and learn myself. I hate that. It’s almost unbelievable. It is unbelievable. But with every mistake comes a lesson and that means learning from it. I try to use that as a reminder to seize every opportunity and not live with coulda, woulda, shouldas.

After that conversation on Friday, I spent some time thinking about what I could end up regretting once my time down here is over and I knew that not getting out and socializing more this winter would be a thing I’d look back on and regret if I didn’t make a change. So here I am putting that in motion. And I know I am not wrong in my thinking, Saturday night at Scott Base, someone I was chatting with said they were surprised to see me out, that they don’t see me socializing very often. There were a couple surprised faces in the store during the day on Saturday, too, when I was asked if I was going to Scott Base later and said, yes. I just have to remember to keep the balance and not burn out. That all or nothing default setting I have is liable to get me. Balance…it’s all about balance.