The Adventures of The Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl-Volume 44:
I Feel Like Hibernating
With the change in the weather and the light, I have found that not only am I battling the sinus crud, but I am feeling like I just want to curl up in bed and sleep all the time. It amazes me how a little nip in the air and a little more darkness can completely alter my energy level and somehow increase my need for chocolate. Are we that tied to the seasons? That is the focus of my blog this week. But first……………
My WTF of the week is the fact that there are Christmas decorations on display in some stores. I walked into a Lowe’s on September 30 to be greeted by the display of lit Christmas trees. I had to blink to make sure this was not a visual hallucination. What is going on? What happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving? Do I need to be thinking about Christmas right now? I have an odd theory about why the decorations are out early and it has to do with our economy. The decorations let us know that another crappy year is coming to an end and that the Holidays are the last fun blast before another year of a crap economy. It also could signal that we need to start shopping now so that when we do have some extra money we remember to start buying some gifts. And lots of us are going to need that lead time. Although I must admit that the white tree did excite me, all the trees did is stress me out thinking about the Holidays, because let’s admit it, the Holidays are stressful. And I am not happy about being reminded of that in October.
This week I can’t get enough of looking at videos of people playing drum covers on YouTube. My drum teacher gave me the task of figuring out how to play, wait for it, Paradise City by Guns N Roses. After looking up the video on YouTube and listening to the song I decided to see if I could find others playing the drum part so I could just copy them-which I thought was a pretty slick idea on my part. Lots of people like t0 play Guns N Roses, go figure, and I had no trouble locating hundreds of drum cover videos. Here is where the fun started. Some of the videos were good, but some were just comical. And by comical I mean the people stank, but still thought they needed to make a video of themselves. I really don’t get why anyone would put up a video of themselves playing drums in the first place. But more interestingly, why would you put up a video of yourself playing the drums badly so then people like me can laugh and make fun of you. I guess I am glad that there is this type of content available because I have something to laugh about and mock and that is a good thing. It also gives me hope that I can be a better drummer that the guys on YouTube. So when I get good I am going to put in my long hair, wear hot pants and some tall boots and film myself plating drums. Would be interesting to see how many views I get.
I really love the fall. It is actually my favorite season of the year because of the colors of the leaves and the crispness of the air and the fact I really like pumpkin and can get lots of pumpkin baked goods in the fall. But the transition from the long, hot summer to the fall always kicks me in the butt. Like clockwork I get my first cold of the season, which I had a few weeks ago. Then my sinuses go crazy and as soon as I have to turn the heat on my eyes dry out and I wake up with a headache until I come up with a humidifier strategy. The darkness in the morning does not help either because it tells my body to get back in the bed and go back to sleep, which I would do if I did not have to get up and get my child ready for school. Then I feel like I am dragging all day just trying to stay awake and somehow get some exercise. I am also really hungry as if my body is telling itself to fatten up for the winter.
I always find it interesting how much the change in seasons and weather and light can affect our energy, moods and eating habits. I know it must be a biological leftover from hunter gatherer days. I have that sense of not wanting to start anything new, and my brain has slowed down in firing off good or creative ideas. Now it just keeps telling me a need a pumpkin muffin and some coffee. I am trying to come up with ways to stay motivated and active in these last months of the year. So I have this crazy idea to start training for a sprint triathlon. After finding out I can have spotters and possibly ride a tandem bike doing a sprint triathlon is now back on the table. I can get training schedules to follow and this will give me the structure I need to stay active. I am also focusing on getting better at the drums and playing a little bit every day. And I am starting something new. I am going to take jazz and modern dance as a fall/winter activity. On the work front I am considering moving forward with a radio show and will be offering some workshops and planning a January event. With these plans and some structure and goals, I hope to drag myself kicking and screaming out of the sleep and eat mode. I will let you know how it works. Maybe planning new things, setting shorter term goals and doing some things that have structure will work for others.
Keep Moving Forward,
Beth (BLOVI) Medlock
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