I'm on holiday in Hawaii and I'm already properly sunburned. I guess that's what happens when the best of "summer" comprises a few days in the 70s. So, naturally I arrived in Hawaii albino white and primed for a nasty burn. All it took was 9 holes of golf and now I have an awkward and painful splotches of redness on my arms and legs. It hurts to sit.
For the last two days I've put myself on the sidelines and have spent them enjoying the best of American cable TV (Bravo, HGTV, and the Food Network--holla!) and reading. This morning I picked up the book One Day and I didn't put it down until it was finished. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly recommend it. Don't be discouraged by the fact that it will soon be a movie starring Anne Hathaway speaking in an awful Yorkshire accent, it's awesome.
For the last two days I've put myself on the sidelines and have spent them enjoying the best of American cable TV (Bravo, HGTV, and the Food Network--holla!) and reading. This morning I picked up the book One Day and I didn't put it down until it was finished. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly recommend it. Don't be discouraged by the fact that it will soon be a movie starring Anne Hathaway speaking in an awful Yorkshire accent, it's awesome.
The book follows the relationship between two people, Emma and Dexter, from their first meeting when they're 22 and then revisits them each year on the same day. Sometimes they're together, sometimes apart. Their relationship goes through ups and downs--friendship, love, fights--as they struggle with what life throws at them. All through the book you see the incredible bond and love that is between them. There was frustration when things were left unsaid, when lies were told and there was elation when things were out in the open, when things were going their way.
And it takes them a long time to get to a good place: years go by before truths come out, feeling are unmasked. In a way it seems like a lot of time is wasted when feelings were bubbling below the surface the whole time. And the entire time I was reading the book I couldn't help but think about how much I could relate to Em and Dex. I suppose a lot of people must identify--the book is a smashing success and soon to be a Hollywood movie. But I can't help but wondering: am I like Em or Dex, wasting my time protecting myself from life? Should I be more honest? With myself? With others? When it it right to say how I feel and when should I keep my mouth shut?
And it takes them a long time to get to a good place: years go by before truths come out, feeling are unmasked. In a way it seems like a lot of time is wasted when feelings were bubbling below the surface the whole time. And the entire time I was reading the book I couldn't help but think about how much I could relate to Em and Dex. I suppose a lot of people must identify--the book is a smashing success and soon to be a Hollywood movie. But I can't help but wondering: am I like Em or Dex, wasting my time protecting myself from life? Should I be more honest? With myself? With others? When it it right to say how I feel and when should I keep my mouth shut?
I guess these are questions we all grapple with. I think I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm nearing 30 and having a 1/3 life crisis (hopefully--I plan to live a long long time). Am I preventing myself from really living? Am I shielding myself from happiness because I fear the pain? At one point in the book Em reflects that its too hard to live each day like its the last--too draining both physically and emotionally. But maybe I need to take a few more risks, at least with my heart. Maybe not today, when moving is still excruciatingly painful. But maybe one day... soon.
