Wednesday, March 28, 2007

vitality

Several years ago i realized that taking care of myself, though it seemed decadent at first, actually put energy into my deeper needs, treating myself to the best gift of all: a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Things like an elegantly homecooked meal of fine ingredients or a long bath with salts and candles and nice scents or sounds (or both!) are not merely indulgent.

One of the greatest delights ever is the time and space to heal. After putting so much energy into work, it is easy to want a treat that satisfies a passing interest or value. What initially seemed like an indulgence became a profound lifestyle change.

Now i'm stymied: how to incorporate a healthy sense of self-respect with a need to have a job. So often the latter works actively and deliberately against the former, not in any overt way, but in the subtle (and sometimes less so) messages we receive through the overall working climate and coworkers. I don't know about anyone else, but an evening of bathing, shooting, and simply being myself is desperately in order. After that, i might go wildly off the deep end and plant some bulbs or vegetables, despite my conviction that the unseasonably glorious weather will break in mid-April.

That's three weeks away after all.