I have not yet filled this blog with the content I envisioned, but that's okay. For three months, my dear Lee and I were basically on vacation. This time of rest and togetherness was badly needed. During that time, I wanted to focus on spending time with him, so I set aside my cyber-inspirations for a time. This past week, he started training for a new job, so I am beginning to turn my attention to other things.
If you know us, you know that the past year has been horribly challenging, and that my health has been in slow decline for a number of years. For both these reasons, a substantial amount of my time and energy goes toward rest and recovery. As I start to get my mental and emotional feet under me again, ideas start to flow and my fingers itch to write.
(If you're interested in the rugged journey of the past year, and the hope we've found in the process, I write about that at https://thenourheartsbroke.blogspot.com/
One of these days, I'll start sharing the journey we've had, traveling through seven states so far, and seeing many beauties along the way. But I thought I'd start with what is one my mind right this moment, which is....
March Madness.
I have a very slight understanding of just what March Madness is. I know it is about basketball. I think it is some sort of tournament cycle. Maybe sort of like the World Series for college basketball?
Let's start with the part where I really don't have a deep interest in watching sports. The memes that go around online about "sportsing with sportsballs" always make me smile, because that pretty much describes my level of interest and knowledge.
For the most part, Lee is not super into watching sports. Even the Superbowl was not really a "thing" in our house, until our kids got older and some of them wanted to watch it. With our house being completely void of all festive Bowl energy, they generally went somewhere else to watch it so they could be with people who were excited about it. And for the snacks. :)
But right now, on this Sunday afternoon, Lee is watching one of the March Madness basketball games. One of the major areas of adjustment and compromise in this life is in what to listen to and what to watch. We have many points of connection with music, and even with things to watch on TV, but we also have many differences. When one of us wants to listen to or watch something that the other does not enjoy, what do we do?
We could sit in separate rooms, but most of the time we don't want to do that. One of the primary bonuses of the RV life is being together. Especially now that Lee is working during the week, being together is important to us. How do we reconcile our desire to spend time together with our disparate tastes?
Technology! Thanks to these little electronic wonders, we can do separate things, together. Lee is in his recliner, watching basketball, and I am next to him, with my laptop and my earbuds. This works. As I write this, I am listening to worship music since the noise of the game distracts me from my thoughts. When I'm finished writing, I may watch a YouTube video.
This is the secret, or at least one of the secrets, of living in close quarters still liking each other. Lee gets to enjoy the game. I get to enjoy a documentary on historical fashion. We can do these very different things, while spending time together. And it works.
It seems simple and obvious, but this is really a fundamental secret to living this life in a good way. It would be so easy to fall into a struggle over who gets to have what they want. The temptation is real! It is so much better when we remember what the important thing is- being together- and work our wants around that core priority.
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