Friends and Conversation

Tonight we met up with some friends at the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, NH.  It's the cutest breakfast dinner entirely adorned with fabulous retro aesthetic and the food is great.  This little joint also happens to be a wonderful midpoint between us and these friends.  Every so often, I encounter a person or a couple who you just wish you could see more of because there's such an easygoing connection and vibe.  Our interaction kind of reminds me of those families that would come together and the men would go off and to do their thing while the women sit and chat up a storm.  There are some other couples where the men get along great but it takes longer for the women to make that connection and vice versa.   I just love it when it all comes so naturally.

Anyway, while at dinner there were almost always two totally separate conversations going on at our little table and something about that just made me feel really happy inside.  It might make me a little strange but that's never been something I've tried to deny.  While Kate and I were talking, she mentioned how she wakes up every morning and does a combination of yoga and pilates.  When she first described it, she broke it down her morning for me.  If she has to be at work by 10, she'll wake up at 7:30.  She spends the first hour motivating herself to do it and eventually begins with meditating for ten minutes which leads into some yoga and pilates exercises.  What really struck me was that emphasized how centered it makes her feel and that if she misses a day or so, she'll become anxious and tense.

I asked if she found meditating naturally easy.  I've tried it a number of times and find that I fail horribly because my mind just never turns off.   Luckily, she said that it didn't come easily at first for her either and that over time she found that it became easier.  Something about the way she talked about it was inspiring.  I've read about it over and over and it's been recommended to me by not only my wise woman of therapy but various others.  However, today it just really hit me in a different way.  Maybe it was because she said that she only does it for ten minutes and that seems reasonable to me.

Of course, she chooses the mornings because that's when she feels more focused in general.  I've read that most women are early birds whereas men tend to be night owls but Dave and I must be the exceptions.  Sure Dave will stay up late and I can get up early but it doesn't feel natural.  For whatever reason, I find that I'm better in the evenings and I honestly don't know why.  My mind tells me that mornings would be far more beneficial to my health and yet I still find myself sleeping completely through them and feeling more awake as the evening progresses.  Kate mentioned that mornings are what works for her and that I just need to find my time of the day but I feel like that's a constant battle for me.

Who knows, maybe I'll figure it out at some point.