Monday, January 23, 2012

You Cannot Forget to LIVE

Sometimes I am guilty of this.  As a writer, I can tend toward the solitary if I'm particularly deep into a project. Last week was not the most productive for me, which always causes me a bit of anxiety and just general uncomfortableness because I feel like I'm neglecting a child.  Since work had so much of my time last week, I put writing on the schedule for Sunday.

Here's how it looked:

Sleep in.
Make coffee.
Consume coffee while rewriting.
Stay in my pajamas most of the day.  Okay, all day.

But then I got word that a friend would be in San Diego.

Let me give you the history with my friend Bonnie -

Bonnie lived in my small little town for two weeks when we were in the 4th Grade.  She was my best friend (as everyone was once I let them into my circle) for those two weeks.  And we haven't lost touch since.

We just had that inexplicable connection.  Have you ever had that with someone?

That's not to say that we talk everyday.  There were years when all we managed were emails, letters and Christmas cards.  But that thin thread that connected us was always there.

We both ended up being vegetarians - not something remotely in our thoughts at 9 years of age.  We both ended up huge animal advocates and dog lovers.  She doesn't work in my field (she's got an uber cool job - Neo-Natal Nurse Practicioner!), but what I do really resonates with her (the Humane Education, not the writing).

We're just two peas in a pod.

I hadn't seen her since this picture was taken.


Notice she and I are together on one side of Shamu and my boyfriend is all by himself on the other.

This was taken in high school.  In the late 80s.

So...write?  Or drive two hours to have lunch with Bonnie?

Lunch with Bonnie won out.

The two hour drive was miraculous - NO traffic.  Anywhere!  On a Sunday!  WHAT?  Yeah, totally meant to be.  You can't go anywhere in this town without there be traffic at every hour.  It was supposed to rain, but the sky was sunny.  I rocked out to my music, sang like an idiot (because with no one around me, who cares what I look like when I want to move and sing to Lady Gaga???) and got to spend time with one of the coolest people on the planet.

And I have absolutely no regrets.  I laughed so hard for two hours straight that my cheeks hurt.  She's one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  Probably why we're still in touch after all these years, right?

So here is to LIVING - to reliving old memories and creating new ones.

What about you - do you sometimes forget to live?  Or are you good at getting out there and creating new memories?

9 comments:

  1. That was a wise decision! It's easy to lose touch with the real world otherwise.

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  2. Loved this post, Jennie. Real life should never come second to writing. 60 years from now, when you're on your death bed, you won't be thinking about that one Sunday you blew off writing. You'll be thinking about that amazing date you had with Bonnie.

    That picture makes me laugh! You and Bonnie have these big smiles... and your boyfriend looks so miserable. LOL.

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  3. Wow--I can't believe you only knew each other for two weeks and then kept in touch for the rest of your lives! That's such a wonderful story. And definitely worth a day of blowing off writing!

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  4. Agreed with Meredith, that's amazing that two weeks together led to a lifelong friendship! I don't forget to live, I'm just not very good at it, ha. I'm working on improving this year, though.

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  5. oh, I LOVE that! And that picture--LOL! I have a Bonnie, and many of our pix are just like that. Me & her and poor whoever out in Siberia. But yep, this reminds me of my post from last week about being grateful and being a Jedi. Good stuff. Don't forget to live~ :o) <3

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  6. What a precious time you had reconnecting! I have a few friends like that, where the passing of time doesn't diminish the friendship.

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  7. I think it's totally essential to live like that! If not, our lives will fly by and we won't have much to look back on except maybe a pile of books if we ever get published. We need to balance life and writing to keep us sane :) Love the pic! Did you take a new pic to put up?

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  8. That is just beautiful. I love that. I love friends like that too. Very special people indeed and every time I think of my amazingly beautiful/wonderful/irreplaceable best friend I have to stop and hope that everyone is blessed to have someone like that. And you do! Glad you got out and had a good time! Hoping you're feeling better.

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  9. Great post!! You definitely made the right choice. And you'll feel even more refreshed for writing now! I'm a vegetarian too, btw.

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