Oh Envy, Have a cuppa tea & be off with yourself.

A coworker asked me what my plans were this weekend, and along with my regular commitments, I am also going to my friend’s poetry reading, the first meeting of a new writing group, and a shamanic journey group I attend monthly.

She said, Wow, I wish my plans included things like writing groups and journey groups.

I asked what her weekend plans were, and she said, they were having some friends over for dinner. That’s about it.

I said, Wow, I wish my plans included things like having friends over for dinner.

I live in the strange time/place between apartment- and house-dweller; between the young able-bodied, go-into-the-city-at-10:30pm-er (as I was invited to last night) and the slightly more cautious, actually-10:30-is-my-bedtimer. I live between the single person world, and the time of coupledom.

And in this place, though there is a ton to “do,” I feel a little lonely. Not for the partner, per se, but for the friendships that begin to fall away as a single person in a paired up world. Nostalgic for the times when a gathered group of women would carve pumpkins together on a Thursday night, for the time when there was occasion to take photos of a gaggle of folks, and a little longing for the camaraderie, simplicity, and elegance that “having some friends over for dinner” could offer.

I know life has different phases, and the majority of the things I’m doing right now (though they are communal, simply aren’t friend-inclusive) are in support of a grander plan and dream: acting classes, auditioning, rehearsals, practicing my lines and reading scripts. I know that this is an exciting part of my path, and, believe me, I am *stoked* to get to do these things, but I also recognize that a shift is occurring. I am on the blank page after one chapter has ended, and before the other has begun.

My friends will be at the writing group, the poetry reading, and the shamanic journey group. These are people who I can have hours’ long conversations with, and last week, did have coffee with one of them, but, I don’t know – there’s a zest of communal living that I haven’t replaced from the days of late-night group dancing and diner-ing.

Perhaps all things in order and in time, but I’m just noticing. I notice that I’d like to be someone who goes to dinner at friends’ houses. Maybe I just want to be able to invite people over to dinner, like I had been able to in my 1-bedroom in the city, but not in my studio in Oakland. I know that’s a part of it too. 

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the grass is always greener?

I have plenty of people I consider friends—I’d just like to see them more often. And apparently, in groups. (I also recognize that I don’t want to be your token single friend in that group to whom you say things like, "Have you tried internet dating?" For more on this, see this article my friend sent me!)

That said, there’s a viewing party for ONCE upon a time I’m attending in a few Sundays at a friend’s; there’s a birthday party at my friend’s house in Discovery Bay next month that will bring out some of my most cherished friends and their families;

and, anyway, this navel-gazing blog is boring me. ;)

I have some people to go see, followed by shopping for a jewel-toned top for Monday’s new headshots, and a facial to help those photos come out awesome. Then line-learning, vegetable roasting, and poetry attending. My life is certainly full—now if it could also be a little more stocked with you.