I am participating in the project Laura Vanderkam is doing in preparation for her next book, to be called Tranquility by Tuesday. Every week she sends out a rule. You take a survey about the rule beforehand, you attempt to follow the rule, and you take a follow-up survey.
Some of the rules I am totally on board with. For instance, Rule #1: Set A Bedtime. I am already on the record as a proponent of bedtimes for kids and grownups alike. Life is much better when I am getting enough sleep. Her survey prompted me to set an alarm to remind myself to get off the couch and brush my teeth on a timetable that still lets me read in bed, because reading in bed feels so luxurious. It's been great.
Another rule is about getting some exercise in each day before 3. It's a good rule and I've been following it pretty faithfully. I am currently on day 72 of a Yoga With Adriene streak, which has been very good for my focus and my triceps. The time change meant that I wasn't always getting it done in the mornings, but I'm back in the 7am yoga groove now.
But two of her recent rules are more focused on the want-to parts of life than on the ought-to parts, and I have found those to be much more difficult.
Some of it is that work remains overwhelming, and so the idea of adding in something extra feels daunting. Some of it is that planning adventures is harder in a global pandemic. On Sunday I sat down to write about three big adventures (she defines a big adventure as something that might take up a chunk of a weekend afternoon) and three small adventures (lasting about an hour) that I'd like to undertake in the next month.
"UUUMMMMM," I said to myself as I stared at an empty text box. "I could...text a friend about meeting for a walk on the trail?" The amount of cognitive effort required to type that not-very-original idea? Embarrassingly high.
This week my two "adventures" are not actually very adventurous. I agreed to participate in a series of evening Zoom discussions sponsored by my department, focused on healthcare in the US. The conversations have been really interesting and it's nice to talk with students outside class. But instead of watching the documentaries I've been reading the transcripts, because that's so much more efficient. This week, I said, I'm putting my feet up and watching the video. Adventures are not efficient, and that's okay. When I sat down to watch the video, I discovered that we have a little break in the discussion schedule and we won't be talking about healthcare tomorrow. Instead, Stella and I watched most of Gamemaster, a documentary about game designers. As adventures go, it was very small. Teeny-tiny, even. But we both enjoyed it, and I would not have done it without the nudge from Laura Vanderkam.
My big "adventure" is that I am planning an Easter picnic. My recently vaccinated in-laws, whom we have not seen since Christmas 2019, will be coming, and they may be accompanied by my SIL and my nephew. We will seat different households at different picnic tables, but we will eat under the same (picnic shelter) roof for the first time in a long time. I have ordered a lamb shoulder, which I plan to slow-roast and serve warm with pita. I will make a vat of potato salad and a multi-tiered dessert (specifics TBD, but it has to be tall and festive-looking and also portable).
We will not see Alex (ALAS), who is waiting to be vaccinated in NYC. I am lobbying for a big Pentecost party, but we'll see what happens.
Anyway. I can know that I will lead a happier life if it is full of things that I want to do as well as things that I have to do, but I have a harder time filling in the want-to squares on my calendar. Let's hope practice makes less imperfect. Whoops, there's my bedtime alarm. Got any adventure ideas for me? Lay them on me, please.
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