back in the saddle…

Last week I began to work with a personal trainer to build muscles and strength that I have neither had nor used in almost five decades. Immediately I felt empowered by what I actually can do and that I  ‘exceeded expectations for your age.’

This was especially gratifying to hear as I rapidly approach the birthday classified as “elderly!” Aging is not challenging enough but then statisticians have to label you. I think of ‘elderly’ as twenty years older than I am, thank you so much!    It was good to hear that my simultaneous talking  while walking on the treadmill was beyond what they expect for a woman my age.  Within a day or two that empowerment still resting in my cells activated my creativity.

As I have been processing all the stressful personal events of this year my creative well has just felt barren.   A month ago I tried  ‘therapy sewing’ as my friend Rayna Gillman calls it. At the time it didn’t feel too therapeutic but rather a tad tortuous. Clearly I wasn’t ready then.

Yet after feeling empowered by my body and trainer I began to think more about getting back to work. I knew I could stand and sit and stand and sit and stand and sit over and over again. So I went in and began to work on a piece that has been staring at me for nearly 5 months.  The colors are  glorious blues and greens…no sorry for your loss browns and blacks! I was able to work two hours before my knees said uncle. Ah progress.

So I have been back twice since. I occasionally find a little pull to check my email or Facebook while there which is really just the addictive part of spending the past five months online.

And I had a good chuckle this afternoon when my body was saying let’s stop for now…after all I had an hour with the trainer AND the chiropractor today so my bod is a tad tired. But I pressed on (no pun intended) until I made a stupid mistake.  I had just pieced in a patch between strips and then took it to the table to cut the new curve and basically cut what I had just seamed!

All the same it feels great to be back in the saddle…