I think you know that I am about to be an empty nester. My Daughter will not be living in her bedroom anymore- (yeah- breaks and all, but really- she will no longer be a full time resident at Chez LA)
A somewhat empty bedroom….
Hmmm….
I’ve been looking at her bedroom with an appraising eye- if I get rid of the desk which is mainly broken,and cabinet next to it, which contains school paraphernalia, I will have room for a piece of exercise equipment. A nice stationary bike. Or maybe an elliptical.
I explained this theory to a friend of mine, who happens to be a writer/editor. And his first response was “Are you sure you want to cut out your guaranteed outside connection to the world? You know, when you are inside writing all day…” He was looking at it as being alone too much. Lots of me time without benefit of other voices. That maybe it wasn’t good to be by myself for that much time. If you’ve read me this week, you know I’ve been reveling in alone time. I had two weekends in a row where I had serious alone time. And I loved it. Unapologetically loved it.
Is my desire to be alone too much?
Is wanting to quit the gym and get a piece of equipment for my house too much alone time?
Here’s the thing. I don’t consider my gym time to be particularly social. I go to the gym, I work out, I come home. Period. True, I say Hi and briefly chat with the regulars who are there at the same time as me always, but honestly, I don’t hold any actual connection to these people: I don’t even know their names: I know them by what equipment they favor- bike guy, stairmaster woman, guy who grunts when he lifts weights, woman who preens to much as she stretches. This isn’t interaction. This is just seeing people who have the same schedule as me, like seeing the people who take mass transit the same time every day. My daughter recognizes her bus driver, but no one is calling that social.
So is getting a piece of home gym equipment a step towards turning into a recluse? Do I want to get a stationary bike so I can avoid social contact?
Well, in a word, No.
I am not thinking about exercising at home because I want to be alone.
I’m considering it because my gym fees are almost usurious. I shouldn’t have to pay a monthly fee because I want the ability to exercise indoors. This is really about cutting cost.
And of course, convenience and efficiency. It will be so nice to wake up, throw on sweats and walk across the apartment and just do a workout. No dodging raindrops, tramping through snow, getting annoyed if the guy opening the gym is late. I can make my own hours, I’m not tied to a schedule. I can throw in laundry, exercise, throw it in the dryer and exercise some more. It’s brilliant.
So sometimes there is no deep seeded reason to an issue. Sometimes it just is what it is.