rokhal

Today's assignment is Joy. Self-care. What do I do that gives me joy?

I hate to be a downer but man, what a bad year and what a bad month to ask that.
I usually find my joy by going to the gym. Lifting weights, testing and cultivating my body. I wasn't always a sports girl, but when I was high-school age, my Dad was alarmed by my crappy endurance when making me run stairs as punishment, and had me and my brother put on swim team. This proved to be a good decision. Now I can swim away from danger, and I got a love of high-heart rate, monotonous activity.
In college, I rowed crew. That wasn't so much joy, as pride in shared misery. After college, I lifted weights. I love being strong. I need it for my job.
When I left the sticks to work in the big city, I took Krav Maga and Jiujitsu. I don't plan to pursue Krav into the higher, grab-the-gun-from-the-bad-guy levels, but it was invaluable experience for writing. Jiujitsu, though, I wanted to stick with. There's a lot to learn there, and a much more relaxed atmosphere.
Two months ago I damaged some cartilage in my knee and found out I have a meniscal tear. I'm doing physical therapy. Low-impact exercise. I can't sit down on the floor from standing position because the cartilage clicks whenever I bend my knee half-way through. I used to do pistol squats as part of my routine workout. This sounds stupid, because I'm still basically able-bodied, but I lost something. I lost the ability to sit down in a damn chair without using my hands or lower myself crosslegged to the ground.
Maybe I'll get it back, maybe my knee will smooth out. But articular cartilage doesn't come back. It just depends on how big the damaged area is.
So basically, what makes me happy is work. I like fixing people's problems and ferreting out what's causing them.
Also I enjoy cooking and target-shooting and walking my dog. I should probably be able to jog with him eventually. I hope. And I love writing and researching. Looking back on what I've written and being satisfied for bringing it into the world.