Breathe, Smash, Dance

I'm a bit tired of work-related blogging. Now that Jack is living with me in Chicagoland (I know...how novel!) it isn't all work anymore.

Y'know, despite the fact that I have to prepare for a gigantic presentation to our medical group's medical staff on Monday, regarding "my" huge operational project. It seems that EVOO is encouraging me to take ownership of this project. If it flies and the project succeeds, well, that'll be a REALLY good thing.

So anyway, Jack lives here again. We've changed in the last year, month, and eight days since we last shared the same address. He says I'm hardened, more the Alpha Female, and more vindictive than he remembers. From what I remember about him, he's become quite Zen, with the attitude that "everything will work out fine. Chill out, mon."

Okay, so I added the "chill out, mon" part. Nonetheless, we are opposites and always have been. That's why our marriage works...we complement each other.

Jack is using the opportunity of moving to Chicago to redefine himself. This is his time to redefine his identity and transform parts of himself that he's always wanted to fix or improve. We all go through this when we make big live changes. While he's reflecting on what he really wants to become in his life, I'm doing similar reflection.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I have been looking to the book "Eat, Pray, Love" for inspiration on this reflection. I read the book last summer and while I disagreed with the author's divorce situation and portrayal of faith, creed, and love, I was really struck by the freedom in which she pursued her desires. In short, she left her husband, decided she wanted to get out there in the world, experience life, travel, and then write a book about it. Dividing a year between Italy, India, and Bali, she financed her travels through a $100,000 publisher's advance, with the expectation that a best-selling book would result from the year-long experience.

Alas, it did. And now Julia Roberts is in on it, as she's playing the main character when the movie opens. Yes, I'm going to that one on opening weekend!

I could completely see myself doing something similar...well, not the leaving my husband part, but setting out on a world adventure and then writing about it. It makes me wonder what I would do. Where would I go? What would I eat? What would be my paradise that would so enlighten my life and redefine my sense of purpose in this world?

So here's what my book would be called: "Breathe, Smash, Dance."

In the "Breathe" section, I would hike in the mountains for four months. Initially, I thought I'd like to hike the Appalachian Trail, but this could take me somewhere far more exotic. I wouldn't mind hiking the Andes, the Rockies, or even the Bavarian Alps. I don't feel the need to scale Mt. Everest, but I do feel the need to embark upon an extended, "lower altitude" hike in the mountains. During this exercise, I would rediscover how to breathe!

In the "Smash" section, I would try wine-making for four months. Again, initially, I was thinking Sonoma or Napa Valley, but this could mean southern France, northern Italy, or Chile. I want to learn the intricacies of vineyard production, the chemical complexities of wine-making, the art of wine-tasting, and the ways of life on the vineyard. And although it's cliche, I want to smash those grapes with my bare feet!

In the "Dance" section, I would travel to Fiji. From the pictures I've seen of Fiji, it looks like my own personal notion of paradise. I would spend my time in Fiji getting acquainted with the locals, canoeing around the islands, eating Polynesian fare, learning the islander ways of respecting the land and ocean, and...dancing. I want to learn the Polynesian tribal fire dances, the crux of their island culture.

The common thread in my three chosen travel spots is simple: I want to slow down, relish another's culture, and find the freedom to live each day as a new experience.

[Not that I don't love being a hospital administrator!]

Think I could get a publisher to give me $100,000 to live this adventure? Hmmm.