01:09 - 04.06.07
Write On
It was 5 in the am before I went to bed last night. It had been too hot, by my standards, to exercise until after I had finished posting to you, dear diary. My youngest thought I was crazy, but I want my exercise regime to be so entrenched in the body that it is almost impossible to miss a day. When I was younger I had more energy to spend, but I have to be more conscious of where I invest my efforts now. Keeping the body as healthy and strong as possible has to be a priority. That said exercising in temperatures that are above 80 F/ 28 C is risky business too. I had to visualize a heat transfer from the current time to a day when it was -30 C in order to finish the hour of stair-climbing I now do. I know bikram yoga (asanas done at high tempreratures) is supposed to be great for weight loss as well as improving flexibility, but I had trouble just finishing the one regime. Today was better, with the air temperature building into those low 80's F, but then thundershowers arrived cooling everything off dramatically around the supper hour. On the news there were stories about flooding and vehicles floating down the street - with someone canoeing in the background of the shot - but there wasn't any rain in my community nor in my sister's diagonally located at the other side of the city.
One of our local favorite sons is a well known playwright and local columnist. He and one of the other arts writers I follow both commented on their experiences with facebook in their weekly scribble. I really admire writers - does that surprise you - and follow their stories with a great deal of interest. That playwright - with two new plays being staged - mentioned he was amazed at how many friends he had garnered in a very short time. Many he seemed not to really know at all. Curious, I needed to check it out. I just wanted to see what type of people would be friends with those of a cultured background. I think the most creative network I saw listed on one of the writers' site was "Snapes on a Plane". That has so many resonances doesn't it. I didn't pry into any of the links on either account, because it is none of my business but I can understand how the service could be quite addicting. I have to admit I've already checked for certain people I know by surfing the networks that they would logically join first. And as noted it has also facilitated communication with some of my sons and their friends too. Sad to say none of them have me listed as their friend. Sigh. I guess for guys that wouldn't be cool, when they are trying to socialize and connect with their buddies. I did see one t-shirt for sale on-line that said "I facebooked your Mom". I have a feeling that there is a joke there that isn't very kind.
I have met other authors over time - mostly during my volunteer activites. Newspaper reporters and educators for starters. One of the Moms I volunteered with for years was the daughter of a very famous female playwright as well. I only got to meet her briefly when she was touching base with her daughter one day. You see our city wide parent council sponsored the annual "reading round-up" at the Stampede every year. One year the daughter was leading the service and I happened to have a lot of "free" volunteer time that month, so I dedicated it to the project. The point was to ask celebrities from the community to read children's stories out loud in the one indoor venue, so that it would be seen as a cool thing to do - even during summer holidays. Her Mom was one of our readers of course. That year was close to when I finally finished trying to make my marriage work and I was asking everyone I knew who had experienced being a child in a single parent family what were the good decisions that their parents had made and what parental choices could have helped them cope better. The daughter was one of five children and, like me, her Mom struggled financially. I was very worried about the lack of material and physical resources for my sons as well as the lack of access higher levels of education and to programs - like sports and the arts - and the impact it would have on their ability to become well-rounded people. The daughter regaled me with wonderful tales of how she and her siblings perceived their circumstances and how much fun they had just by being together as a family. In addition, the impact that their Mother's positive attitude had on them was profound. The daughter was someone I admired greatly as an adult and that allayed my fears too. Sometimes hard times make one stronger and smarter. One's sense of who they are isn't determined by what is owned or what others think of them, because the luxury of worrying about such trivial things when survival is more of an issue means the sense of self worth can't be defined by the usual terms of more resourced people.
Around that same time period my Dad asked me if I had ever felt poor when we were growing up. Financially his business was pretty unstable in those early years and there was almost no cash to be had. I responded with an emphatic "no" even before thinking about it, although I did allow I still missed not having a pair of go-go boots like the friends I made when we moved to the high rent district. That was the lesson right there though - the company one keeps and what one's peers reflect back to you makes all the difference in one's perception of their reality. In truth I always felt well cared for because, up until late elementary school, we lived in a community where all the families were struggling to makes ends meet. I had lots of friends, a big extended family and parents with a positive outlook on life. My Mom often did confide in me as the oldest chid when she was stressed about finances, but that never made me feel deprived. I watched my parents take up extra work whenever it was available and just put in the extra effort to ensure there was food on the table, coping as best they could. I incorporated that attitude into my own set of values by osmosis. I watched neighbours build their homes one board/room at a time as the money became available. People weren't judged on what they owned nor diminished by what they couldn't afford to buy. No one wasted anything. Recycling was an act of survival as well as one of conscience. Everyone on our block seemed to be willing to help out their neighbours, knowing that help would be reciprocated if it was needed. That said I recall an awful lot of parties and community get togethers where life as it was, was celebrated with a real sense of joy. I guess it's all in how one frames the picture. Sometimes I think that the people who get out of bed everyday even when they are behind the 8 ball and do the best they can are the real heroes in our society. Too bad they so often get such raw treament from those who think their material goods, job title or wages somehow make them better. You know politicians and such. Their loss I think.
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