A Day Alone in the Twin Cities

I dropped Kevin off at the airport at 8 am Sunday morning. He would be gone for a couple of days. So after we said our goodbyes, I drove off and realized that I had an entire day all to myself to do whatever I wanted in the Twin Cities. Of course I missed Kevin, but at the same time there was something incredibly exciting about having a whole, unplanned day ahead of me. I had no obligations to anyone else at all, nor any of the normal distractions--not even by way of the cell phone which Kevin had taken with him on his trip. I could get my much needed, and often ignored, introvert time. I could curl up in a coffee shop or cafe and read a whole book if I wanted, or spend the day riding my bike along the river in the amazing spring sunshine, or I could go home, put on my pajamas, watch movies and knit all day. I could go to a museum or an art gallery; the possibilities seemed endless right then.

However, being the responsible young lady that I am (hey, it's true some of the time!), I decided that I should try and use at least a good portion of my Sunday to do some much needed homework, so I went with the first option. On the drive home, I spontaneously decided to skip church (I know, I know, but at least I was doing homework!) and spend the morning in a cute little cafe in St. Paul reading a novel that is assigned for my Traditional African Religions class. It felt so relaxing to take the morning to sit with a pot of tea and read a book--no schedule to follow, nowhere else that I needed to be except right there. Maybe it would help one to understand why this is so odd for me if I explain that I'm usually the type of person who unintentionally schedules every spare moment in my life for some reason. It's a habit of mine that I am trying to break. It comes and goes. I guess I just like being busy. If I am not in class or at work, I am doing homework, singing in a choir, working out at the gym, babysitting, tutoring at the Riverview Library, moonlighting at my other job, teaching a knitting class, whatever. So it felt incredibly indulgent to give myself this time to just sit and read for however long I wanted. In retrospect, I believe that I was doing what is popularly known at the seminary as self-care. It felt good.

After I felt I had worn out my welcome at that coffee shop, I stopped home to pick up some more homework and went along to another coffee shop in Minneapolis, which had outdoor seating (even better!). After a few hours there, I stopped at a craft store for some yarn, headed home again for a little while, then decided to go out to a diner in another part of St. Paul for dinner and more studying. It was right about then that I realized that I had not really had a conversation with anyone all day. I mean I had spoken with servers and such when I ordered tea or the veggie burger that I had for dinner, but other than that I had spent the day quietly reading, immersed in what I was learning. I can't remember the last time I had a day that serene and reflective and I have to admit it was very nice and grounding for me. Generally, I do consider myself an extrovert. I like being around people and meeting new people. But every once in awhile I just need time to be alone and think. Of course, come evening the extrovert was back and I was in the mood to finally do something with friends, but no one was available! Just my luck! Thank goodness that one friend was just getting home when I stopped by her place, so I at least could catch up a little with her before calling it a night.