Pre-fun

More fun is planned for the coming month. Concerts, travel, Zooms, and my usual fun with famiy, quilters, singers, poets, and friends. You'd think I'd be happy, and I am, but for me, there is always anxiety. I calm myself by cleaning (presently cleaning closets), playing video games on my phone, and generally making a mess, which will have to be spotless soon. I have perfectionistic tendencies, which makes me clean my house almost spotless before I have people over. I know, that's why I never have parties. I am grateful for a doggie that takes me for long walks. That always lessens my anxieties. How about you? Do you get nervous before an unusual event in your life, like travel or hosting? 

Post-Fun, Revised

I had so much fun in January! I rested up from my trip to Cuba, celebrated the birthdays of two beautiful teenage granddaughters, and joined the Swedish Glee Club (https://swedishgleeclub.org/), which has great singers, beautiful music, and fantastic director. I attended the opera Carmen for the first time and had dinner with friends. Then I also attended the opera Cinderella for the first time and had lunch with friends beforehand.

Then I realized there is a downside to fun, and I’m calling it “post-fun.” After having a fun month in January, life is back to normal and that now seems more boring. I still sing in my church choir and quilt with friends and alone. So I am having plenty of fun in retirement, but the routine aspects of life are not so fun. Cleaning bathrooms and scrubbing floors are not fun. 

Even quilting, reading, and writing can be isolating. Solitude is wonderful, but rarely as fun as almost anything with family or friends. I am grateful for the beautiful memories of January.

It doesn’t take much to meet my needs. In the coming months I have plans to travel, go to concerts, a play, and another opera. They may or may not be fun. But I have goals I wish to achieve before I die. So having too much fun causes a kind of stress. But that’s another story.