Energy

Visiting C&KH last week, I thought about how they enjoy life much more than J & I do. We tend to avoid exerting ourselves, and end up bored and restless. C&K, though old and often in pain, keep traipsing around the world and visiting people and engaging with people's lives. They use physical, mental, and emotional energy, and they have a great time. My new insight: enjoyment takes energy. We put energy into things as a way of enjoying them. It's best when we can put energy into those things that give us energy back. For isntance, I can exert energy on my house and yard. Afterward, I can enjoy the house and yard, and those things energize me by giving me pleasure and feelings of contentment. Is there a limit to the energy we have, or is it like exercise, where the more we spend the more we get? Perhaps only if we spend energy on those things that give back to us. There are some people I know, for instance, who can suck the life right out of me. I love some of them dearly, but I can't be around them much or get too involved in their lives. I would rather be around people who spark.

This weekend instead of taking it easy and doing nothing while J is out of town, I am trying to spend energy wisely. Today I have written two whole thank-you cards, and I spent an hour working on an article. I have another hour's worth of work on the article that I want to do tonight. Tomorrow I want to work on the yard, and on the article, and start on the yard-sale organizing.

I haven't been writing lately. There has been just too much to say. J's godmother died. My cat's littermate died. We're looking for a house to buy. I'm taking a Deutschkurs. I start teaching in another week and the syllabus isn't ready. I'm behind on reading everything but not panicked (yet). There won't be time for Harry Potter this summer, I think.