I am such an escapist. When I was little, I would hide someplace with a book and read. I would get so immersed in reading, I wouldn’t hear my Mom calling me. I was a a swimmer in my youth and the solitary act of swimming laps was the kind of repetitive task in which you can lose yourself. In college I started running. I would run from the campus at American University, up New Mexico Avenue and through Rock Creek. I could run the 7 miles in the woods and never pass a soul. I liked school and studying. I had the same carrol in th elibrary that I sat in every night for years. In med school, we studied at the library and when it closed at midnight, we would go to the morgue and do our dissections. I was never bothered by being that room with those 20 cadavers. Bizarre. I felt in awe of these people who turned their bodies over to us, so that we could learn.
I like to garden and can spend hours weeding and digging and planting. I have a yard full of colorful perennials. Daylilies and irises and Gerbera Daisies and Stokesia. I have antique climbing roses and blueberries. I have bird feeders and like to sit in the yard and watch my cats stalk the birds.
I like music. I like all kinds of music, from Big Band like Count Basie to Gangsta Rap. I prefer old school rap. My kids think it is a riot I know the lyrics to the Sugar Hill Gang. Right now I am listening to Corrine Bailey Rae.
I am anticipating the release of the new Harry Potter book. I will sit down and read it cover to cover. I am listening to an audio book on my ipod. I like to write on this blog.
I spend the majority of my day out of my head, listening to other people. I hear their tragedies and sorrows, sometimes they are in pain and often they are afraid. They lack hope and want assurance. It is part of my job to explain to them what is happening to them and what they can expect in the future. It is hard to leave work at the office when it is soo personal.
So, I look for escapes. Little places to go play and pretend and relax and be silly. Places that are free and undemanding and that I get to be immersed in.