Oh, In(tro)verted World

I have a very happy life.  A wonderful, enduring partnership, a supportive family who loves me.  Great friends, some whom I've known for years, and others that I get to know better all the time.  I have the time to pursue my writing, both solo projects and with my charming co-author, Michelle.  I'm comfortable, and I have routines that make me happy.

Routine in general makes me happy, as anyone who has ever tried to make last-minute plans with me can attest.  Lately, my routine has become the same go to work-come home- go back to work (write)- come home- sleep- repeat  almost every day.  It's productive, it's comfortable, it varies from time to time, certainly, but sometimes I wonder if it's only giving rise to some of the downsides of loving routine, like anxiety when the routine is altered, or an inability to look outside the norm for new experiences.

To that end, I'm planning to have some Adventures soon.  This weekend, I've organized the first Formal Attire Miniature Golf outing with some friends.  Next weekend, it's the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  The following weekend isn't booked, but Monday the 31st is Halloween, and I'm going to a concert that night.

I think routine is great.  I'm a Virgo, amongst my many other foibles, and I like lists, and order.  I'm just also one of those foofy artists types, who thinks that different places create different thoughts, and different experiences create, period.  The fact that I've annexed my local Starbucks (hi everyone, I love you all!) as an office, while technically fulfilling the requirement for the whole "leaving the house" thing, isn't really an Adventure, so much as a habit.  (A very, very productive habit.  We've now written almost three novels in that Starbucks, and I've got the bloodshot eyes and Gold Card membership to prove it.)

I live in the suburbs, and though it will strike me forever from the rolls of the cool, I must admit, I really enjoy it.  I lived both rural and metropolitan as a kid, in the middle of the city of San Jose, and the middle of nowhere in Hawaii.  I'm okay with the middle ground, because it means I can take advantage of both, without having to drive 45 miles to buy groceries, or getting shot walking to school.  (Sorry, San Jose.  You were kind of the pits when I lived there.)

It's just actually remembering to do something outside my little bubble of Same that gets me.  So here's to bursting your own bubble, and finding an Adventure to embark upon.  If you've got a suggestion, I'm open.