November 26, 2017 ADDICTED TO LOVE

 If you'd asked me LAST year to take a MUCH needed brake from running--I would have laughed in your face. Fast forward one year--Believe it or not--I haven't run for 8 WEEKS. At first it was really hard--the routine so ingrained--but substituting it with yoga has helped a lot. Now that I'm off the "Treadmill" I realize a few things. Running had become a job. A rollercoaster of EAT--RUN--EAT--RUN. EXAMPLE--hot fudge sundae-- run 6 miles. I was going--round and round--to NO avail. The scale kept tipping in the wrong direction--SO--I'd run more. Get it?? This sounds like great confessions of a RUNNING ADDICT. Sad thing is--I googled the signs--and  had like--ALL OF THEM to one degree or another. Feel guilty about missing a run--YUP. Not able to take time off when injured--YUP. Give up social or family obligations to run--YUP. Run more than you intend to--SOMETIMES. Run to change your mood--SOMETIMES. You get the idea. Gaining a much needed NEW perspective on running. When I get back on the pavement--I will appreciate that I--CAN RUN-- NOT WORRY-- about how many calories I'm burning. NO MORE TREADMILL FOR ME. Since I'm not on the treadmill anymore--I've had a little more time to read. So I decided to sink my teeth into something a little heavier AND I'M GLAD I DID.

Just finished a captivating, beautifully written novel by one of my new favorite authors Anuradha Roy called An Atlas of Impossible Longing. This lovely novel is set in Songarh, a small town in Bengal. As the multigenerational story unfolds, it is the beginning of the 20th century and Amulya has moved his family from Calcutta in order to run his herbal medicine factory. Living in such a secluded area has a negative effect on his wife Kananbala as she goes crazy and spends much of her time locked away. Years go by and  their sons, Kamal and Nirmal, grow up and marry. Nirmal's wife dies in childbirth leaving him to raise his daughter Bakul. Heartbroken over her death,  Nirmal then leaves Bakul with his family.   Along the way, an orphan from a different caste named Mukunda  comes to live with the family. Mukunda and Bakul forge a relationship that is later torn apart when he is sent off to school--leaving them both longing for the other.  Roy is such a gifted writer--she brings the story to life--sounds--senses--description. The reader not only learns about different cultures, but to appreciate them and realize that we all have far more in common including-- family experiences, romance, death, abandonment, forgiveness and impossible longing. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. It's about 340 pages or a 5 mile run that helps you remember why you love to read.