Confession. I have become terribly uptight. I just now attempted a little light yogic stretching as learned back in my days at the Experimental Theater Wing, and found it more difficult than I ever remeber: harder than when I first started (kinda understandible as I've got more muscle to stretch now than in those early twiggy days) and vastly moreso than the last time I remember really trying to stretch, which had to be around the beginning of the summer. I've also noticed that I've gained quite a little bit of weight (gut flab, mostly) in the past few months.

Things seem to have taken a turn. The life is taking its toll, I suppose. But I've decided that all this "I can't wait until the election is over" fatalism has got to end. That's right; I can't wait until the election is over.

For starters, that's not the end of the road for me. It's hardly even a break. I can't sleep for a year, or even a month. Things will need doing the week after, so saddle up and be ready.

And moreover, a lot of this stuff shouldn't be postponed. I'm not going to go clothes shopping any time soon, but getting my physical life in order is an endeavor that's going to take a while, and there's no compelling reason not to start right now. The actual daily investments of time and energy are modest. It just takes discipline, and discipline is something I could use more of at the moment anyway. So there. Reasons abound.

I'm pretty convinced also that overcoming this physical tightness, as well as working off the flab, will help me continue in improving my mental and emotional state. I'm a confirmed believer in the mind-body connection. It ebbs and flows, but it's always present. Your body and brain are all one connected system, so none of this should be at all surprising. Still, some people still think that there's a hoky new-age smell to believing that having a rich physical life is a critical component to a good mental and emotional experience.

I don't bother to question it or to be sanctimonious about it; I'm more concerned with what it means for me and my life pragmatically. To put it another way, I'm not one of those people who frets over food or obsesses over exercise. I'm one of those people who thinks, "damn, I'm bummed out. I should take a giant bike ride up some really tall hills and then go get sushi, maybe start stretching more and eating veggies again."

And anyway, for any of this shit to really work, it's gotta be sustainable. Terriby uptight is not sustainable because it's not an optimal condition for production, and high production is going to be a must for the next ten to twenty years or so at least. I don't think I'll really be able to slow down for a while, nor do I want to. But to live up to that date with velocity, I've got to get my engine running cleaner and smoother.