getting outside

I saw a friend a couple days after getting back from Oregon. As soon as we sat down at the table for lunch, she told me, "You look better!" (which is a sort of strange thing to tell someone, alas.) And then, she also went on to tell me that I was funnier and happier seeming than before spring break. "You've obviously had a break," she told me. Then, I was at lunch with some other people (I don't spend all my time going out to lunch, btw), and another friend mentioned something similar, how I looked calm and cheery.

Besides making me aware of the fact that I apparently looked especially frazzled pre-break, I realize this does make some sense. Over break, I was able to get outside and to see old friends. (I also got mild food poisoning...but we'll forget about that.) I've always told people I'm happier when I'm outside or places that I can get outside: Wyoming, Colorado, northern Wisconsin, Norway, etc. And I think it's not just happiness; I'm calmer (& apparently, funnier). I definitely feel more in my element when I see people walking around with chacos and patagonia jackets. But mostly, the outdoors are really good for my head. I feel I can breathe outside (in the mountains, in the woods, on the river) in a way I cannot in my regular life. I think that's one of the (many) reasons I loved living in some of the outdoorsy places I have lived--my being able to breathe was my regular life.

I'm not on the job market right now (heck I have to finish writing a book first!) and who knows what will happen, but I kind of hope my next big move is to somewhere beautiful or adventurous. I'm realizing, in some ways, the job matters less to me than the place. But for now, I guess it's important that I keep taking breaks and going places where I can breathe better, even for a few weeks at a time.

(note: this photo is actually wyoming, not oregon. i was so stunned, it seems, to be somewhere beautiful again, i didn't take any photos of it. oh! and the blog header photo is a view from the house i lived in in norway....unbelievable to wake up to that every morning --it pretty much ruined me for not-so-exciting places.)