DIY Therapy
Swimming and blogging. Blogging and swimming. Two activities so different, but both becoming more and more essential to maintaining some type of balance.
While I enjoy my work, even in my reduced-stress practice (ahh … transactional work … omm … omm) I can see the tendencies for it to reach in and grab too much of my life. There’s always something sitting on the desk, or in voice mail, or in Eudora’s in-box trying to grab my attention. There are always people who think they need more of your time, at least until the invoice arrives. Almost everyone you meet is a potential client, or has ‘a simple little question,’ or just wants to ramble on about some political issue that is somehow legal related. Tough to go out and just completely unwind because even in a big city like San Diego, communities are pretty small and anything said or done has the potential of coming around again in unexpected way.
Blogging has been wonderful because it lets me vent without hurting the people I love, as long as I self-edit. Yes, some IRL people have crossed over into this part of my life too. It lets me write creatively, or at least with a non-billable purpose, and I enjoy it. It was the perfect DIY therapy when life in Monterey/Salinas was going to shit not going well and I really needed a contained space to vent.
While blogging is still fun (and the day it stops being fun I’ll be out of here), swimming has lately become another essential componant of the Howling Point DIY Therapy program. Moving through the water cuts the ties to the land: no chatter, no electronics, no distractions. Isolation can be a good thing. The ability to completely block out the external voices, even if it is just for a limited period of time, is a welcome relief. The internal voices get some needed time to run amok. They can sort through the options and laugh at the things that aren’t there. These are the voices that the blog’s self-editing has kept quiet, and they’ve finally found a safe outlet.
Balance is important. The blogging complements the swimming and the swimming has inspired some good blogging.
So I haven’t been posting as much as I used to. That’s not a bad thing.
