Ten days of solitude
Recently, I found myself in the peculiar position of being completely on my own, for a ten- day stretch. My husband had taken himself off on an 4×4 over landing adventure, in Namibia, and my sons were visiting their brother in another Province.
Lucky escapes
I suspect they were all eager to escape, as I had just had dental surgery, and I had little desire to be seen in public with my lopsided face. They stocked the house with ingredients for my soup and smoothie culinary adventure, and disappeared with suspected relief.
Catch up Time
Initially I had been excited, imagining a time free from the usual demands of a busy household. At last, I could tackle those household tasks I had been avoiding for months, spend more time on my ambitious reading and writing projects, and do some neglected tasks around the garden. Generally just catch up with myself.
Intentions don’t always lead to actions
Ah, the rocky road of good intentions. The first three days, I was simply too sore to do much but feel sorry for myself. The weather was cold, and miserable, so it made sense for the two dogs, two cats, and myself, to gather on the couch and steadily work our way through a list of movies I had been meaning to watch for some time.
People make my world go around
The weather improved, energy returned, and I was ready to tackle my ‘To do’ list. This was when I hit another wall; the novelty of being alone had worn off. I needed live humans to talk to. Dogs are full of affection but not great at conversation, as much as I chip in with comments, when listening to a podcast, there is no satisfaction of a reply. Although feeling physically better, I was still not really fit for public eyes, so no going to gym, or out for a cup of coffee. The tedium was only broken by one hair-raising solo adventure, rescuing our geriatric cat, stranded on the pergola. Ladders, painkillers, and a clawing cat are probably not what the dentist envisaged when I was told to rest for a week, but it helped a little with the monotony, and provided great entertainment for the neighbour.
Where did all my people go?
My ‘I mean to do list,’ became a ‘Meant to do’ list, and the hours really began to weigh heavily. Friends were all away, and the only one of my go-to –people around was nursing a nasty and debilitating injury, after a tumble down a flight of stairs, that made my elected dental procedure seem as insignificant as a mosquito bite.
Too much ‘me’ time
I had deluded myself that aeons of time to myself would spur my creative flow, and make me productive. I may as well have been swimming in syrup, the less of my regular routine I had to shape my day, the less motivation I had to do anything at all. Procrastination has always been my speciality, it seems too much time on my hands is not the antidote.
Isolation is not that appealing
I often joke that I’m looking to buy an island for one, usually after tidying away discarded pairs of adult male shoes, left in mystifying places all over the house. I now I know I would not survive a month. I only just managed ten days. Solitude is good for me, but not for long, I’m more productive when people are around.
All is not lost
One great thing is I did get through a lot of reading, and advanced my classic reading challenge by another six books.
Life back to normal
Thankfully, life has returned to normal. My people are home, creating mess that I, with only a little resentment, sort out, whilst imaging how wonderful it would be to have time to tackle the steadily increasing ‘To do’ list.
brenfinding5th.com 