So writers and caffeine are supposed to be a marriage made in heaven, right?
For me, it's an unpredictable beast. I can get wonderfully creative bursts that fuel my writing. I can also become overheated and over sensitive to my surroundings. That's what happened a couple of Thursdays ago. I was hoping for writing fuel and instead felt like I was burning up, felt nauseous, felt scatterbrained, and spent a lot of time running to the washroom. Caffeine overload and gluten reactions have some overlapping symptoms, so I learned.
The problem is, I really didn't have time for it. I needed to be at Kendo because I committed to getting something done the following day that required me to get something from someone at Kendo. Yeah, I could've just attended and not done the workout, but that felt silly to me. Besides, I'd been putting off starting Kendo for far too long. Also, given Kendo's connection to Star Wars, December seemed an appropriate month to start Kendo.
As I twitched like Tweek from South Park, I longed to feel better.
Doing Christmas shopping after the coffee really didn't help either. The overly caffeinated introvert in a mall in December is all kinds of bad. Also, people were driving erratically and there were ambulances and such. Way too much stimulation of the wrong sort.
After I got home, I napped, drank water, and had a light dinner. I still didn't feel 100%, but I also didn't feel terrible, so off to Kendo I went.
Kendo was hard at the start, but not as hard as it was in my previous attempts. Apparently, somewhere along the way I built more muscle and got into slightly better shape, so now it doesn't completely kill me. I did need a substantial break to catch my breath, but otherwise it was good except for the mansplainer trying to correct something that didn't need correction. I noticed he only felt the need to correct the women in the class. He wasn't at the Sunday class thankfully.
I'm finding kendo to be helpful with my Iaido. I don't know yet if it's helping me gauge distance better, but I have noticed it is helping reduce hip flexor tightness, which can only be a good thing.
Nothing seems to help my right Achilles though. I think I may have permanent damage from being an idiot. I sprained it in roller derby then played a charity event with it taped, and then I did derby bootcamp and team tryouts where I sprained it again. I did physio back in the day. I have no money for physio, so I'll just do some exercises at home.
Anyway, back to caffeine.
There are tons of memes along the lines of, "I'm not human until I've had my coffee." Also, "If you don't drink coffee, I can't trust you."
Caffeine is a drug. It's a socially acceptable one, but a drug nonetheless. If you can't function at all without it, you're addicted and actually probably missing some things in your diet like B vitamins, which are integral to having energy and feeling good. Chaga tea is something I really like for a decaffeinated boost as well. It's a dual immune regulator so it boosts or calms as needed. I'm not saying coffee is evil, but I feel it should be relied on a little less. Too much of anything isn't healthy. Also, the human body is largely made of water, so when you drink a bunch of liquids that remove water from the body, well, you shouldn't be surprised if it's not functioning as well as you'd like.
Sorry. That last paragraph may have sounded a little bitchy. On this particular Thursday, I'm dealing with being laid off twice in the same year for not having enough work for me. I suppose this sort of thing will happen to more people as automation spreads to all facets of our lives. Unless Trump manages to kill Elon Musk's plans for the planet's future. Let's hope working with Trump and his people doesn't turn Elon into some sort of patsy for whatever nefarious plans may be in the works. I like a number of things Mr. Musk has done already and I feel he is mostly improving things on this planet.
Anyway, back to trying to get through to employment insurance to reactivate my previous claim, so I can be sure to make it through the next few weeks or months.
Ciao,
R~