Thursday, October 28, 2010

Splendid Spontaneity

After a rather exhausting week of essay writing and exam preparation, late Friday afternoon saw my final essay for the semester written and sitting in the post box ready for the mail man to safely deliver for me; lifting briefly from my shoulders some of the end of year pressures of university.

But come early Friday evening, with my little man at his mothers for the weekend, and other than having exams ahead of me all vital deadlines had passed, I went and got a little spontaneous. Right there in that interestingly almost un-recognisable feeling of my own solely individual freedom, an un-over-thought decision proved to be a rather rewarding one.

 It's not everyday that I venture out beyond the comfort of our little life, nor do I make decisions without them being fairly well considered first... this does come in handy when trying to avoid the more potentially unfortunate of situations, but, it also means with the use of such particular consideration I don't seem to employ all that much spontaneity in my life either. Generally it means there's less risk involved, and I don't have all that much I'd really like to be gambling with, but consequently there are also less of the opportunities that bring people together, or that introduce you to new friends, or to new favourite places, or to hidden enthusiasm not yet discovered.

I must say partly in my defense, or maybe in attempting an excuse, it really does take rather a lot of time all by myself to cook, and clean, and wash grass stains out of pant knees, make school lunches, read adventure stories, fix flat bike tyres, and the other hundred-and-one mostly rewarding jobs of parenthood... whilst digging vegetable patches and mowing my endless lawn, and teaching a boy about all of life; And, in that little extra bit of spare time to study a degree..

So I packed a few things in a suitcase, scraped together a few bucks, hopped in my car and drove an hour away into the big city to stay with an old friend in his new house. What I was intending to be one night, became three thoroughly enjoyable days of new friends and old, plenty of inspiring urban art and architecture amongst many a beautiful old house, a couple of funky bars, a warehouse style apartment, an old favourite cafe and a job offer to work there, a bunch of great second-hand stores, some well-appreciated handmade pasta, and with a little extra spontaneity in the mix.. it ended with seeing one of my long-time favourite bands play live at the Wellington Opera House.

All-in-all it was a marvelous way to spend a weekend away from home, not to mention, that I found so much life and inspiration in the people and places hidden away in the colourful corners of the city that I'm otherwise somewhat oblivious to while my usual safety-net of hesitance and caution is in place. But with my fingers now feeling particularly creative and left wanting to again strum something musical with other musical people, along with the fresh memories of vintage things in vintage stores I now have plans for occasional adventures. I'm also beginning to look forward to the three exams I have to sit over the following fortnight back in the city, yes because the niggling pressure will leave with the exams, but more so because it'll give me a little extra time to explore further the places and visit the people that have offered me fresh inspiration.


It was nice however, to again return home to find my little house awaiting my arrival and all as I had left it; Well apart from a few extra small sprouting things, and my not so small yet always so thoroughly cheerful young chap, just gleaming to see his dad. He was also rather pleased to see the fantastic old globe I found for him for $5 on the drive home, but what son of mine wouldn't be..

I'd already got to be all very enthusiastic about my own fantastic discoveries...


Of vintage bowls and silver spoons,
and a dozen books for a dozen dollars from the 70's and 80's all about politics, sociology & psychology, which will come in very handy as I progressively undertake another three years of
academia.


..And then there was the very clever young Free Lance illustrator who I met along the way with his forthcoming exhibition of intergalactic interactive singing robots...


3 comments:

  1. So good to hear you had a little bit of "me" time. No matter how much we love our kids, it's good to get out and about, see and do new things and we can come home refreshed and reinvigorated. Glad you had a good time.
    Enjoy your weekend,
    Anne

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  2. I know just what you mean! I love my little comforts of home too, but at least its always there waiting for you when you come back. Glad you got out and had some fun, sound like a well needed and enjoyed break! Love that globe too, hes one lucky man, has he picked out his first destination yet? Hope you enjoy the break, I always enjoyed learning and studying but dont miss that pressure for a second!

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  3. Sounds like a bit of time out was just what you needed to return refreshed and inspired. It is tough studying for a degree whilst raising children...been there done that! Good luck with your exams. Fabulous globe.

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