Life of Pi/Amy

The film version of Life of Pi comes out on my birthday this year, so I thought I'd read the novel again. But just when I sat down with my tea and the book, it hit me: I should be doing about a hundred other things. A hundred. Or at least a couple dozen. Oh, the projects on my desk.

A guy at my gym likes to tell me that a portion of his family's budget has been set aside for him to train with me. "If you'd just go and take the test already," he says. I tell him I have too many interests to settle down into personal training.

"What are you up to now--caribou hunting in the sub-Saharan desert?" he asked. (Later he acknowledged not being quite sure where caribou are found.)

Sure, why not. After I get through the current list. It's good to write out your interests and involvements, if a bit anxiety-inducing. Here goes mine:

--writing a book.
--writing a play for former prisoners to perform this fall.
--starting and leading an exercise program at a homeless shelter.
--writing for a college magazine.
--working part-time at the Y.
--keeping up with my fitness goals.
--running a household.

Lots of primary activity didn't make the list, like parenting, wifery and diabetes management. And see how housework appears only at the bottom? That's a big problem of mine: thinking laundry is something in the way of all the other projects. It doesn't contribute to my sense of accomplishment for the day, when it should--it's one of my main jobs.

Otherwise, I've found a peace about pursuing different interests, none of them exhaustively. It keeps me interested and (I hope) interesting. But it wouldn't hurt to make some extra cash off of some of these pursuits, which is where the PT certification would come in handy.

Maybe by the time Life of Pi is out, when I'm older and wiser, I'll have this figured out. Or, at the very least, a new and different list.