a new kind of freedom

It's 9:17pm on a Monday night.  In all normal Monday paths in my life these days, I would be, in the next ten minutes or so, getting dressed and ready to head to Powerhouse Blues.  Blues dancing is among the most-loved activities in my life now, and I don't miss the Monday dance for anything but a few very special exceptions.  In fact I am listening to a particularly delicious blues song at this very moment - John Hammond's version of Same Thing - and starting to half-regret the decision...

Today my good friend at work reminded me that we have not gone out for a beer and a nice talk for quite awhile.  We almost waited til tomorrow, but at the last moment decided to hang out today.  We went to a bar I've passed many times on the bus and recently saw claiming to have 20 craft beers on draft.  We had a wonderful, in depth, and honest talk about some shared threads in our lives.  I am happy to have such friends.

So I made it home at 8-something in the evening and realized, man, I am tired.  And hungry.  I am so lucky as to have leftovers to eat this week, the results of my parents' visit and cooking with my mother (a well-versed experienced cook) over this past weekend.  So I microwaved a plate and it was utterly delicious.

While tired, I had been intending on heading to blues at 9:30 as usual.  Then I remembered this week is the once-monthly house party dance held two bus rides away from where I live.  Now, I know I am incredibly spoiled to have merely a 30-second walk to the regular weekly venue.  I am not saying I'm complaining about the change of location.  I merely had - for once - a simple realization and resulting decision: I'm feeling tired, in the mood for relaxing indoors, not for going back out a half hour from when I walked in the front door.  I realized that I don't have to bind myself to a weekly schedule just because the event opportunity is there and because I love it so much.  I realized I can listen to my gut feeling and take a night off, and while I'm lamenting a little bit that I'll now probably go two weeks in between blues dancing (such a painfully long time to wait!), I am okay with this for right now, and I think it will be good for me.

What do you know!  Life is changeable.