Ora et Labora

[rebeccmeister]

The horizons of my life have shrunk with illness such that I don't always feel like I have a whole lot to discusss--the simple Latin phrase "Ora et Labora" (Prayer and Work) feels applicable, although my life right now is a bit more like Rest and Work. Sometimes it's hard to remember the meaning in the work, although it's there.

I miss rowing, a lot. I miss riding my bicycle, a lot. If only I had the energy for such matters, or for anything, really. Yesterday was a pretty good day, reasonably high-energy. Today I feel drained and I think I'll go home early to sleep for a while.

One day at a time.

Comments

[sandokai.livejournal.com]

Funny, on those times I actually find more to post-- if not about what I'm doing, then about what I'm thinking.


I hope you feel better soon.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

I think I might also be preoccupied with things that are happening at school and other things that I don't always end up writing about (e.g. existentialism), and these are requiring whatever mental energy I have at the moment. I'm not entirely certain that I have a good grasp on what leads me to write more in any case.

Thank you for the well-wishes--I of course hope for a quick recovery but mono is a slow illness.

[sandokai.livejournal.com]

Oh, too bad you don't write about existentialism :(

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

I suppose it is too bad--at this moment, I'm mostly trying to work things out for myself in my head and on paper. I don't know why I feel the need to keep the process private, but it will appear in fits and starts no matter what.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I had mono at 18 or so, during a summer between college semesters. I was officially over it in a month or so, but it took until spring semester semester until I had my previous energy level (and alcohol tolerance) back. The lucky thing is that you're not losing crucial time, since both your main sports are things you can do for the next 60 years - any race you miss this year will come around again. I'm glad you're feeling enough better to be able to do a little work; I hope you recover enough energy very quickly to be able to do all of it.

Do you have access to an indoor erg? That way once you do feel a little better, you can do something without having to haul a boat all the way down to the water and then feeling like you have to row far enough to justify all the carrying - and also, being in airconditioning should make a big difference. I'm thinking starting really slow, like with an easy 1K. I guess the bike will work for starting slow as well, though the heat make still make it more draining.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

It is true and quite nice to participate in sports that I can still do for the next 60 years--I'm not too concerned about not being able to do any serious physical activity while I recover. I just really miss the time on the water and time on my bike with my friends because they were a nice part of my days.

I do indeed have access to an indoor erg at the Student Recreation Center, and I've been thinking about hopping on once my energy levels are up again. I think I'll still be concerned about trying to take a boat out for quite a while until I know for sure that I'm up for a couple of laps. I've been finding that the heat is the hardest thing to deal with. It's kind of strange, actually, because cardiovascularly I still feel like I'm in pretty good shape. But my energy levels indicate otherwise, and just going on walks to get places is draining.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Yup. I was happy enough to have mono, actually, because it got me out of a spectacularly boring summer job (sorting student loan applications by social security number) and let me spend the rest of my summer as a lady of leisure, resting and reading, with daily visits from my boyfriend at the time (who loaned me sacks of paperbacks - his library was a lot more extensive than mine!) But I can see how it would be awful when you were spending your days on things you actually wanted to do.