Last week my husband and I took off for a night of pure adult time--an entire twenty-four hours to ourselves. (A deep bow of gratitude here to my in-laws for baby-sitting!)
We spent the night at a resort casino. A kind of place I'd never been.
At home in the valley, my life revolves around work and family. Tofu, kale, and farmer's markets. Yoga classes. Walks in the sun. Trips to the library.
Suddenly I was delivered to a wild, windowless compound where the lights and bells of hundreds of slot machines followed me everywhere.
I'd thought before we left that I'd probably fall asleep early. Enjoy some kid-free quiet. I even packed a book. About brain science, of course.
Suffice to say, it didn't get read.
Instead, I shook my booty to a disco band. I stayed up for nearly 24 hours straight. I slept (eventually) in a swanky free room and ate delicious free food. I dressed up. I got carded at 31 (sweet!).
I pushed my chips all in and won. I put my money down on the blackjack table without knowing the rules. I bet on sucker bets without a care in the world.
(I also saw a grown man wearing feety pajamas in public. He's my hero.)
I left behind the known and embraced the new--or rather, the new to me. And embraced it fully.
No scoffing or skepticism. No growling about second hand smoke, the lack of kale, or the mindlessness of the slots.
I saw the beauty of the place--swarms of people fully engaged in our human-ness. Doing our thing.
I loved it. And yeah, I went home to my kale and yoga, spent an afternoon reading under a blanket, and got back to my life.
But the magic of that experience hasn't left. I think beyond the flashing of the lights and the clicking of the chips, there is a very deep lesson here about being creative, in life and in art.
To immerse youself. To let loose, let go. To observe the things you paint or write about with love, even if they are foreign to you. To be a little bit of a chameleon.
To design your life--but be fluid in its execution.
To take risks. To jump far, far out of your routine and your comfort zone, and allow that experience to energize you instead of scaring you.
I encourage you to get a little wild. To step outside your norm for awhile and see how it feels. Shake it up a little.
What's outside your comfort zone? What's new to you? Is there something fresh and unfamiliar you've been putting off?
xoxo Maeg
