I must be quick writing my work log because I have a yoga class in a while. I'm at the Mario Vargas Llosa library in Madrid. 15 minutes to write.
Today I had lunch with Ángel, a bright friend whom I met because he organizes MeetUps to discuss TED talks. He's way above his pay grade in this matter, having studied physics and then a doctorate degree in neuroscience at some prestigious university in the UK. Like some bright people he is humble beyond measure and he will only reveal this after much prodding.
Since I hadn't seen him in five years, I asked him: what has changed about you in the past five years? And he told me about his incursion into poetry and theater. He's obviously not the kind of person to whom these kind of things come easily (I'd say he shares a lot of the features of people on the spectrum but since he doesn't identify as one, he's not caged by the label).
I spoke about my incursion into yoga and dancing. The discovery of my disowned body. My recent incursions into breathing.
It's interesting to see how much are we able to change in five years, and also how much we remain the same. I couldn't perceive anything different in him, and neither him in me (except for my bald head, I suppose).
Today I won't tackle Step 7 of the 12 Steps. I will allow the first six steps to simmer a bit. It's been very useful going through them. I wonder if I'm not violating the "Anonymous" part of the deal by writing about it publicly. As far as I understand, it is encouraged to remain anonymous because there's great peril in making your struggles with addiction public. It's too late for that. I'll continue working through the steps, and when I find some stability in my life I'll begin attending AA meetings. So far it's obvious it's working, and I'm grateful and happy for that.