Birthdays make us reflect on our lives. I’m 45 today, and it is my greatest hope that I am not yet at the halfway point of my life. I feel great, my life circumstances are extraordinary right now. The people I love are healthy and happy, for the most part, and I’m in a safe, secure place of the world.
My body is healthy and strong, and enables me to do most of the things I want to do. I have several painful deformities in my spine, and I’m fortunate to have a great medical team that helps me manage that pain in a way that allows me to function close to 90% of my full capacity. I had to give up the high impact workouts, but have found such fun in dance, yoga, and low impact cardio workouts. I can hike, and walk long distances. I love to travel and explore the world, and am blessed whenever I get to do so, whether it be the creek behind my house or thousands of miles away.
I have always loved politics and history, and in the last two decades of my life, spent quite a bit of time reading about and studying current events. In the last ten years, the devolution of civility and reason in our politics have been difficult to take. It’s so hard for me to watch this unfold in real time, so I have gratefully escaped into books.
I stay informed, I vote, I donate to centrist candidates who I hope can call to the moderates on each side of the aisle to actually get some things done, but beyond that it’s too much for me. I tried to think of a better word than “much” there. Too disconcerting? Too terrifying? Too disillusioning? It’s all just too much.
I remain grateful to all of the authors who dedicate their lives to telling stories, whether they be based in fantasy or reality. It is because of your work that I have a hobby that keeps my mind engaged and nourishes my soul.