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Post-Trip Recovery
Jun. 5th, 2006 12:18 pmFirst of all, having a birthday on a Monday, following two weekends of intense overstimulation tends to result in a ridiculous amount of self-pity and post vacation let down. I don't recommend it. (I also don't recommend being lazy and weirdly reticent about one's birthday, and then hoping one's local friends will be available at a moment's notice to drink martinis with one:) But see, now I'm laughing at myself, so there's hope yet.
I need to work on planning some sort of party though. Perhaps I'll just wait until July and do a big shindig at the house.
However, the reunion was really lovely, and I had a fabulous birthday dinner on Friday night with many martinis, got to see some of my dearest friends, and bought these - in red for myself on Friday afternoon for my birthday. I am wearing them today with jeans and a cream jersey top and a maroonish sweater that's lived with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rubberneck for the past few months, and thus is almost like having a brand new sweater.
The weather for the reunion couldn't have been better and we had a lovely, and oddly thoughtful time. Two of my best friends from college have children, and it's sort of astonishing to see these children as independent of their parents, seeing these people that I watched grow and develop into the people they are become parents, successful raise other people. And my "godchild" was uber adorable in her David Bowie shirt (from me, I have one as well and we matched), her lime green skirt, pink hat and green shoes. She loved the shirt, and I was very relieved that she knew I was Auntie and not David Bowie, because there was a brief period of confusion in the morning over that. Sh. has also trained her to both say and recognize Bob Dylan, which is mostly the adorablest thing ever.
The most profound part of the weekend was looking at my time as an undergrad, and being so proud of it, and yet not doubting myself in the face of what I'd done then and what I was doing now. Another friend is pretty much saving the world, and yet still feels like much of her best work was at Macalester. And we talked about why, what made us both feel that, and where you go from there, and the answer seems to be reconnecting with the part of yourself that did those things, and approached things with that joy and enthusiasim and fearlessness. Not regressing, but reaccessing. I feel let down and exhausted and a lot of other things wrapped around birthdays and reunions and milestones, but there's also this niggling thread of exhilaration that I think I can catch and ride.
I need to work on planning some sort of party though. Perhaps I'll just wait until July and do a big shindig at the house.
However, the reunion was really lovely, and I had a fabulous birthday dinner on Friday night with many martinis, got to see some of my dearest friends, and bought these - in red for myself on Friday afternoon for my birthday. I am wearing them today with jeans and a cream jersey top and a maroonish sweater that's lived with
rubberneck for the past few months, and thus is almost like having a brand new sweater.The weather for the reunion couldn't have been better and we had a lovely, and oddly thoughtful time. Two of my best friends from college have children, and it's sort of astonishing to see these children as independent of their parents, seeing these people that I watched grow and develop into the people they are become parents, successful raise other people. And my "godchild" was uber adorable in her David Bowie shirt (from me, I have one as well and we matched), her lime green skirt, pink hat and green shoes. She loved the shirt, and I was very relieved that she knew I was Auntie and not David Bowie, because there was a brief period of confusion in the morning over that. Sh. has also trained her to both say and recognize Bob Dylan, which is mostly the adorablest thing ever.
The most profound part of the weekend was looking at my time as an undergrad, and being so proud of it, and yet not doubting myself in the face of what I'd done then and what I was doing now. Another friend is pretty much saving the world, and yet still feels like much of her best work was at Macalester. And we talked about why, what made us both feel that, and where you go from there, and the answer seems to be reconnecting with the part of yourself that did those things, and approached things with that joy and enthusiasim and fearlessness. Not regressing, but reaccessing. I feel let down and exhausted and a lot of other things wrapped around birthdays and reunions and milestones, but there's also this niggling thread of exhilaration that I think I can catch and ride.
