In Which We Declare a Holiday

[mrissa]

It is, however, a holiday with homework.

Here's the thing: this stupid vertigo crap has been going on for quite some time now. And February 13 will be the one-year anniversary of my visit to the current clinic to get test results and make a plan for PT and like that. I am having some difficulty with the length of time this has gone on, but frankly I don't feel able to talk about that very much here right now.

So what I'm doing instead is declaring February 13 the holiday of One Year Closer to Balance. We don't know yet how long this will take or what exactly the end state will be, but we know we're one year closer than we used to be. Think of it like it's my birthday! Only without cake or presents or funny hats. And instead of observing something fun like an arrival on the planet, observing something unpleasant continuing to go on for at least the near-term future! Um. Perhaps I will rethink this lack of cake and funny hats.

Anyway. Homework. What I would like you all to do--and any of your friends and family who want to, the more the merrier--is think about balance in your lives. It applies in all sorts of places. So I would really, really appreciate it if you could do something to bring about a little more balance in your own life, and then come over to my lj to comment or write me an e-mail to tell me about it. It could be very literal, doing a few yoga poses or balancing your checkbook. Or it could be a lot more abstract than that. Leave work on time that Friday to give non-work activities more of their place in your life. Read hard SF if you've mostly been reading high fantasy. Spend more time by yourself if you've been feeling pushed into more extroversion than you have available. Call your grandmother if you feel like you haven't had enough time with family and are lucky enough to still have one. Balance, balance, balance.

Please? This is frankly pretty hard for me, and I would kind of like to put it in a larger context rather than feeling alone with it.

(I will bring this up again, so you don't have to remember all this time by yourselves.)

Comments

[rosefox]

A most excellent idea. I shall definitely go contemplate, and contribute a balancey thing.

EDIT: It occurs to me that deciding not to go to Boskone is definitely a life-balancing of sorts: while some of that decision was financial, a lot of it was also realizing that I was planning three weekends away from home in February, and that seemed thoroughly excessive. In general, I'm trying to explicitly schedule more home weekends, and to enjoy them when I have them.

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

You definitely need cake in this situation.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The problem is that 1) I like baking cake better than eating cake, but 2) baking cake involves boiling things. (Yes it does. Baking cake that is not Our Cake is functionally equivalent to not baking cake.) So I will definitely aim for cake, but it will depend on whether I am having a good day or a bad day for handling hot objects that day.

I could ask my mom to bake the cake and she would do it in a heartbeat; in fact, if we hadn't talked about my preferences for doing this sort of thing, she might do it without my asking, if she thought it might make me feel better even a little bit, because that's the kind of mom she is. But point #1 is relevant here. So. We'll see.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That is a very good kind of life balancing to think about. Trust me, I know. Although away from home is not as much of an option these days.

[themagdalen.livejournal.com]

I regret the source of the inspiration. On the other hand, I like this holiday very much.

Will try to have some balances to report by then. :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Related but not quite directly: it is hard to keep in mind that "I felt too crappy to get anything done today besides managing the vertigo" and "I have been on vacation!" are not the same thing. And that's a balance I'm finding really hard right now.

[redbird]

That seems like good homework. (You know about my usual little bit of yoga, so I'll assume I should do something additional.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I do know about your usual little bit of yoga, but while you can do something additional, I wouldn't want to knock your day out of balance by demanding it if it just didn't fit. Making that judgment may be part of the balancing.

[rosefox]

Being home sick on a day when there was a lot of stuff I wanted to get done, I can definitely relate to that difference. From the outside, it probably looks like I spent all day slacking, but I sure didn't enjoy it as much as I would have enjoyed a day of healthy slack.

EDIT: Rereading my comment, this strikes me as an issue of consent. A day off I chose is much better than one that was foisted upon me.

[redbird]

A good point.

I'll be at Boskone, which may make this more interesting.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

This is a thing I can do.

I will be at CupcakeCon that weekend, but I am sure I can do my homework in advance.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah. Well, partly that, at least. My need for some enjoyable/vacationish time has not lessened just because the pile of useful things to get done has also not lessened. Sigh.

I have this thing where, on day three or four of a bad cold, I rush around trying to get some of the stuff done that has piled up while I've been having a bad cold. And then I crash in the afternoon and think, "What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so crappy?" And then: "Oh yah, right: cold." Unfortunately I still do this with vertigo sometimes: "What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so crappy and weird and wobbly? Oh yah, right, more than a year of vertigo." Possibly this is a creative new form of stupidity all for me. I don't know.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Balance the chocolate cupcakes with the red velvet cupcakes! Do not neglect the balance of cupcake and milk or other pleasant beverage!

Lo, I am a cruel taskmaster.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Balance panels with conversation! Balance naps with con time! Cons are great for this.

[aliseadae]

I love this idea. I will think about things I can do and get back to you. I might possibly try to balance the time I spend with different groups of people in BSFFA (Beloit SFF association) but I might think of something else.

[rosefox]

It's definitely not unique to you; I did very similar things during the Year of Arm Ow. I still do when I have a flare, and my doctor yells at me. "You know you need to rest in order to heal! Why do you do this to yourself?" Last time he asked me that, I said "Defiance", but it's not just defiance; sometimes stuff needs to get done more than my arms need to rest, and that's wretched but it's how it is.

[rezendi.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I will be in Brazil, but maybe I can see if balance works differently on the other side of the equator.

[aliseadae]

I might post and tell others about the existence of the holiday. May I?

[aedifica]

I think I can celebrate that holiday along with another at the same time, yes. (I'll either be celebrating Nate's 30th birthday, which will have been the day before, or my ex-boss Leah's 30th birthday, which will be that very day.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Please do! Link them back to me. See what ensues.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

You fall clockwise instead of counterclockwise! Or is it the other way? I can't remember.

[aedifica]

Would it be possible to do all the parts that don't involve boiling, and have someone else on hand to do the boiling parts? Or would that not be satisfactory, or is the cake recipe too full of boiling parts?

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

*is oppressed with demands*

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly.

I have quite a few imbalances to think about. Two weeks of pondering will be useful!

[ckd]

The date is very appropriate for me because Boskone is very much my balance-con[1]. Vericon is basically a weekend of boardgaming (as will be made obvious once I finish logging my plays to BGG), Arisia is gaming with a side order of seeing folks (when I can find them in the maelstrom), and Readercon is probably the con at which I spend the most time attending programming.

At Boskone I will go to panels. I will play a game or three. I will spend time sitting on couches chatting with people. I will wander through the dealers' room and the art show. (For that matter, I'll help set up and tear down said art show. It's fun work and serves as an extension of the con.) I'll eat a meal in, and a meal out; a meal with people I've known for years, and a meal with folks I just met. I'll be happy to see the people who could make it this year, and sad to miss the ones who couldn't (including you and rosefox).

I will also try not to slip on the ice walking to the Westin from the T station. That's really going to require balance!

[1] Upon some reflection, this is even more true than I thought when writing the main part of this comment. When Boskone returned to Boston in 2003, I returned to regular congoing. From 1992 through 2002, I made it to something like 4-5 cons in total; now, that's a bit more than an average year's worth. That's been a big part of my life balance over the past few years.