The Other Side of Me

Tuesday, January 20

I awoke this morning with a shiver. I had gone to bed very late and did not know where the extra quilts were kept. Needless to say I slept with extra layers of clothing as exhaustion swept over me. We watched the inauguration of President Obama on a tv that had faded color. Only shades of red and blue appeared with any clarity. This made every screen shot to the American flag quite striking as all other images were ironically black and white. Following the inauguration we served sandwiches to those who knocked on the door and took a trip to the building site where we will provide some volunteer labor to build another retreat center. This activity was a bit of a surprise, but so be it. Then it was children's hour, an after-school program for providing a safe place for kids from 4-5pm. I played a lot of pool. Who knows maybe I will become a pool player.

The evening ended with a guest speaker. Some of what he said I'd heard or read before. Something that caught me up in thought was his referral to his "other side of me" instead of saying "wife". He said "wife" isn't enough to explain what a relationship is all about. She was his other side. As ya'll know I hate Jerry McGuire "you complete me" kind of language about relationships, so I began to wonder why this felt different. Not my "other half" but my "other side". Who are the other sides of our life? I've observed I may behave differently with people based on the kind of relationship I have with them, from formal, professional to casual and yes even romantic. So how does being with your "other side" look like? Respectful, honorable, passionate, comfortable, strangely familiar... I'm still brewing this tea of thought tonight like a good herbal - best to let it steep.