The morning after my 32nd birthday, I was leaning against the railing of a hotel room deck, looking out across the lush tops of palm trees and towards the turquoise Indian Ocean. I was on assignment in Mexico, in the Mayan Riviera—one of the most beautiful tropical locales I have experienced—and it just so happened that my birthday fell within my time away. Due to the embracing hospitality of some of my new Mexican media friends and the fact that the work portion of the trip was officially over, I had spent the entire night of my birthday celebrating in Playa del Carmen until the sun came up. Consequently, here I was the morning after, in the hotel room of a person I barely knew, thinking, Chalk this night up with a few firsts! Feels… productive.
The cradling morning sun enveloped me as I enjoyed the early day quiet of a place just waking, thinking my long thoughts in yesterday’s sundress. I could faintly hear the shower going, then stop, then an application for my attention in accented English interrupted by reverie. I turned around to a man in a towel, smiling at me. Though I’m sure he didn’t mean it this way, I read that sly grin as, “Well my dear, what are you going to do now?”
Indeed, what am I going to do now? The trip to Mexico came at a time when I was standing confusedly at a critical life junction. Actually, I’m still standing there—it’s been raining steadily for the past year and now the dusty road has finally turned into the thickest of mud. My feet were slowly sinking in over time but now I’m stuck fast. For the better part of a year, I’ve been complaining about my job, income, spirituality and personal life and now there is no choice but to do something about getting unstuck. Suffice it to say that while I attempt to sort out the details, and perhaps in answer to some of my frustrations, I’m starting a new project. A project of firsts. First experiences. First attempts at things I’ve always wanted to learn or try, things I’ve recently had the desire to try, or really, whatever strikes my fancy. Though these wee adventures won’t necessarily make me whole, I’m hoping they’ll help. And I’ll document them all here, from the exciting to the embarrassing to the dull.
Welcome to “The Virgin Chronicles.”
