Hey now, a lot of alcoholics I know are very active and even proactive. That said, I come from an area with a high number of high-functioning alcoholics, though if 5 drinks a day is now considered binge drinking, then it's tough not to be an "alcoholic." Jokes aside, exercise is indeed a great thing to do. The thing about body weight exercise is that it's very adaptable, it's not just push-ups, pull-ups, jumping-jacks and other hyphenated words. Yoga is one. You mentioned you had a girlfriend. What if that was something you guys did together over Skype or whatever? It'd be good for a couple laughs anyway. A lot of people sit around and wish they had a more adventurous life, not realizing that the key to having adventures is going out and having them. One thing I like doing when I move to a new place is making the conscious effort to do something new every day. It doesn't have to be anything big, just something as simple as, "I'll try taking this road instead of that road." I once did that and ended up getting lost in a market, where some lady gave me directions to where I thought I should be and then gave me a bunch of fruit to give to the monkeys. In another city I decided to walk home to my new apartment. On the way I discovered about 7 bars that I didn't know existed and found out that my apartment was about 10 miles away from where I worked (I had no idea, I always took the train). My point is, make work the least significant portion of your life if you can, while of course doing a good job and looking for other jobs. I'm in a shitty financial situation myself at the moment and still looking for a new job, but I think this is a good time to work on stuff I've always been interested in, which I might also be able to use professionally in the future. Approach life with a hard-on. It's much more interesting that way.
"Approach life with a hard-on. It's much more interesting that way."
Hey mk, feel like putting this quote on the next batch of Hubski stickers? 10 miles and you're already well out of the city here, but I get what you're saying. I walk to and from work everyday, it saves money on gas and isn't that far. Plus you have to pay for parking. As for exploring, there's really not that much to it, I've already walked this entire downtown area that's worth walking around (aka not dangerous). Mind if I ask what you're working on/planning on working on?
P.S. I hope your financial situation improves and that you find something worth working!
Sure. One of the things I'm doing is working to expand my general knowledge of other countries, world politics and the U.S. constitution to prepare for the Foreign Service Officer exam. The process of becoming an FSO is fairly convoluted and takes a lot of time, so it's really a back burner plan. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to learn more about countries I might like to teach in. Jumping off of that, I've been considering other plans of what to do in the meantime. I think NGO work might be a good stepping stone, so I've been writing to friends who work for or have worked for NGOs in the past to get an idea of what to look for in a quality experience. I've also been in touch with a family friend who is trying to put me in touch with his clients who have NGO experience and even some people involved with the UN. I've also been working on getting back into poetry. You might have seen some scribbles and first-draft kind of stuff I've put up here, but I'd like to get back to a place where I feel like the writing is publishable and maybe even worth performing. One of the friends I wrote to is has been more faithful to poetry than I have and now we're discussing a collaborative project. With another friend, I've been tinkering with the idea of recording some of my older poems and I've been thinking about maybe getting a website together, so I've been learning a little bit about that. I feel like it's important to stretch myself out in a bunch of directions and to go with what sticks, while always trying out new things and finding ways to leverage them into other possibilities. It's no fun being painted into a corner, but when that happens I guess it doesn't hurt to try walking on the ceiling, you know? Thanks for the well-wishes. I hope something takes a turn for the better on your end as well.