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Buried In A Book

The Help

I just saw the movie The Help, and all I can say, is that everyone needs to go see it, and I can't wait to read the book for book club in October. I laughed, I cried, I clapped, I covered my eyes; the movie was just fantastic. I can only hope that if I was living in Mississippi in this era, that I would be a Skeeter, and not a Hilly or Lizzie. I felt ashamed of some of the characters, and so proud of others. There was redemption, and there was cruelty. There was just so much. I can't say the two things that I wish had/hadn't happened, but I am definitely satisfied and highly, highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. It realllllly makes you think.

Fear

Everyone has fears; its a normal fact of life. I have many fears, as I am sure most people do. There is one fear, however, that I only have when I am in DC: whenever I hear a plane, and it is loud because it is close, my stomach tightens and I worry about it flying into a building. Specifically, I worry about it flying into my building. I don't worry about this when I am on a plane, or when I am visiting SD or LA; just when I am in DC...which is most of the time as I live here. It is obvious that this fear has its roots in 9/11 and the work that I do, but it is also really annoying, especially as my stomach tightens when I hear a plane nearby whether I am at home or at work. And as annoying as it may be, I don't see my fear going away any time soon. It's fascinating, and somewhat scary, what kind of impact one event can have on our lives.

The Lost Girls

I'm only on page 41 of 560 in my latest book, and I am already positive that this is going to be one of my favorites. The Lost Girls is a travel memoir of 3 women who in their late 20s decide to take time out of their lives and travel the world. In the prologue there was a quote that really stood out to me:

"Were the paths that we were heading down the right ones for us- or were we simply staying the course because we thought we should? Was the road most frequently traveled the one that we wanted to follow?"

                -The Lost Girls, pg 5

To put in in context, this quote follows musings on how all three of the women have reached the initial goals of adulthood: moving out of their parent's house, graduating from college, getting jobs, and falling in love; but were the next steps, mortgages, marriage and children, really where they wanted to go?

It makes me wonder, are we, ok, am I,  following the path that I want, or am I following a path that I believe is expected of me? I have always wanted to work for the government, but I have also always wanted to travel. And my job doesn't really lend itself to writing travel articles. Then again, working at State does give me the opportunity to travel in a way, though being a civil service employee versus a foreign service officer means I will have less opportunities than others. Sigh. Part of me hopes that in 2 years I will be happy in my life, settled with someone I love, and traveling when I want, and the other part of me is worried that I won't be satisfied with my life. Sigh. Let's hope for the first option, not the second, because if it is the second, then I will be miserable and sorely tempted to follow in these women's footsteps.

Then again, maybe this is all ridiculous and the travel bug has just gotten to me, and all of my worries will be for naught once I travel somewhere for a week or so. Fingers crossed!!!

New Quote

I was reading a book on the last leg of my flight back to DC on Monday night, and this quote just jumped out at me:

"I'm beginning to learn that anything worth having in life begins by taking a risk-love, marriage, childbirth, even loving one's neighbor as thyself. Risk is the universe's way of pushing us to become more than what we are. Risk is faith at the edge. Risk is the pulsating essence of life.

Without risk, we are automatons going through our days with no purpose or meaning. We are safer, perhaps, but we are also, ironically, closer to death."

           - The Sleeping Beauty Proposal, by Sarah Strohmeyer

Good book, but by no means something everyone should read. I just happened to stumble across it in the fiction section at Barnes and Noble, otherwise known as "Michelle's Happy Place."

Anyway, this quote just really drew me in. I mean, it stands on its own, no explanation necessary. And it is something I have kind of lived by. I did fly across the country and start out on my own post-college with no friends or family around. But I think I have gotten too comfortable and stopped taking risks. I worry that I will become stagnant and that I will let my fears hold me back. These few sentences in a random book just reminded me again that the only way to win is to play the game.

So, though I can't see myself changing overnight, this is something I plan on keeping in mind and maybe using as inspiration.

Wish me luck!

Run, Michelle! Run!

So about 6 months ago I signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I didn't give myself enough time to train, and so I ended up only doing the 5 k. I was able to run the whole thing though, so that was exciting. I told myself I would take a week off as a celebration, and then get back to running.

That didn't work out.

Instead, I took off almost 2 months. Ugh.

So today I got my butt out of the apartment and went to the gym and got on a treadmill. I hopped on, and ran a 10 minute mile without stopping. I was quite impressed with myself, seeing as it's been awhile. I then walked a half mile and ran another half mile. I could have continued, but I didn't want to over do it, and I would like to go back to the gym tomorrow.

Hopefully I have turned over a new leaf, and get in the habit of going to the gym again.

Wish me luck!

Run Run, As Fast As You Can

I don't know if this is the stupidest thing or the smartest thing I have ever done, but I signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. This means I need to train like whoa. I ran a bit before the holidays and a little during, but then I stopped for 2 weeks. Now, with I think 79 days to go, I need to step it up. So, I ran 1.5 miles on Sunday and Monday, and 1 mile yesterday. I was going to run again tonight, but my foot hurts a bit, and I don't won't to injure myself before I really get going. So, a night off tonight, and back at it again tomorrow.

We are in the midst of evaluations of work, and while slightly scary, its also been kind of fun to see everything I have done over the past year. Well, 8 months, but who is counting. In any case, its cool to see everything I have been a part of, and to know that my words are going into documents that are shaping U.S. policy. Freaking unreal. Anyway, wish me luck! Hopefully my review will go well.