On a drive with my friend Heather, who is going for her sixth degree blackbelt or something just as marvellous, she was telling me about her studies for it. I really liked the idea of personal discipline that came with the martial arts. I also saw it in Angela who works with me and has practiced Tae Kwon Do for years. The arts are about movement and exercise but they are also about personal development.
On the drive I said to Heather maybe I'll try Tai Chi. Again. In my last year of university at Dalhousie, I went to Tai Chi for two semesters. That was it. I never practiced again. My older sister has done it for years, so I knew it was available but I had no interest. Suddenly that morning, listening to Heather, I became interested again.
As I get older I see that I have experimented in many hobbies and activities. I have read many authors. I have been many places. I also see that there is an opportunity to try these things again at a different time and place in my life. And that from this new place I will have a different perspective. Part of me wants to say, I already tried that, been there, or heard that. That is the part of me I am working on. I have to tell myself it might be different now, and it often is. Often it seems completely different than it ever did before. I find this in re-reading certain philosophy books. I find new things in it all the time.
I find it tempting to say, been there, done that. It is a kind of self satisfied approach to life. But the truth is, I only did that then. And now there is more to me, more experience, more knowledge, more love. So I have more to give to whatever I turn my heart to. If I start shutting ideas down because I tried it thirty years ago there will be a lot to shut down. That time it seems was long ago and far away. I never imagined that I would ever say, " ..that was forty years ago." But I can say that now.
So it seems I am coming back to things. On Tuesday morning I go to Tai Chi. I love it now, while long ago I was just doing it to see what it was.
I am re-reading a book I read ten years ago to see if I have any more insight into it.
Also "J' etudie francais" after a forty year hiatus.
It is time again for these things. I have no idea why. I am not questioning it. I am just responding to the desire and the interest. That is enough.
Already having tried something is no reason not to try it again I am discovering. Mostly I am discovering and that in itself makes me happy.
